Entry 29 - Minkata - Why Do I Do This To Myself All The Time

You would think by now that I would learn.

Last night I followed the paths on my maps and found each of the linking caverns, but after touching each one - including the central one - nothing happened. There was obviously something I was missing. It was late and I was getting tired so what I should have done was let it rest for a couple of days but instead I let impatience and frustration get the better of me, again, and looked up the spoiler.

As usual, I wish I hadn't.

The key is the prominent phrase on every linking stone, "follow your path in the stars". Below I have my map and a picture of one of the constellations that are spread across the night sky.

Map One & Constellation One

"Follow your path in the stars." They meant that very literally. After walking towards the constellation for a few seconds, a symbol appeared before me. When I walked through it, it moved towards the central cage where I followed it. There I pressed the cage stone and I now had the cleft symbol part of the icon floating in the middle of the cage. Obviously, I just need to do this with the remaining stones.

What made me angry with myself is that I was so close. I had each of the maps in front of me. If I just let it simmer for a few days, I likely would have gotten it.

New rule: No cheating unless I've let the puzzle stew for at least three days.

***sigh***

Minkata - A Long Way From Home

Anyway, I'll finish Minkata another night. I went and visited Techno420 in his new 'hood, CSI Uru. They're going to investigate last week's disappearance of Wheely. They feel she is still alive and have only been taken by the Bahro.

I myself have been thinking about taking up a character for the game and playing with the idea of reserecting someone I created shortly after joining. His name is Stephen Porter and I was going to make him a DRC wanna-be who was going to go around urging everyone to ignore Yeesha. I even came up with a conveluted way of getting him into the cavern by murdering another explorer and stealing his Relto book (he himself wouldn't be smart enough to get by Zandi). I gave up on the idea for two reasons. One, I was worried some folks would take Stephen too seriously and two, I don't have the energy for it.

After Wheely's death, though, there seems to me that there should be an anti-Yeesha, anti-Bahro sentiment given a voice in the cavern. I may bring him in yet if no one else picks up on this - just without the murder angle.

I even created a blog for him => Yeesha - The Truth About the Restoration.

HC

Entry 28 - Akuna Minkata

There are times when these game make me feel so thick.

Last night in Minkata, I began checking out the coordinates I had plotted on the map. Despite that calculating my walking and running speeds working very well (walking: 9.2 units/sec, running: 23 units/sec) it became obvious as the night wore on that the locations on my map were not corresponding to much of anything. Needless to say, I didn't find any more of the linking stones. After stubbornly checking out all the locations, I decided to call it a night.

I was laying in bed when the obvious hit me - the numbers in the books are not coordinates, but directions - like for a treasure map. Anyone who has done any orienteering should be immediately familiar with what is going on (walk north 100 m, south-east 80m, ...). Fortunately, the software I used to generate the maps makes it pretty easy to shuffle my already worked out vectors end-to-end. Here's what the first map should look like.

Corrected Minkata Map To Linking Cavern 1

The location at the end of the last arrow corresponds almost exactly to where the nearest linking cavern is. This is most certainly it. Just to explain the numbers on the map, the coordinates beside each vector are the distance numbers, straight from the book in the library, and the direction angles. For the angle, I called the top zero and then each arrow (see book image from previous entry) going clockwise is one unit - giving twenty units making up a complete rotation (I know this is supposed to correspond to the D'ni angle measurement that is in a calibrated KI - 62500 whatevers equaling 360 degrees - but just counting the arrows is easier here). I also included a return vector on each map to make getting back easier (though for the first one you are always within sight of the cage anyway).

Obviously, I'll be trying this out when I get a chance to get back to Minkata. I've been debating whether to just head straight to the end location in each map or follow the path given by the directions in the book. I've decided to follow the path for two reasons. One, there could easily be something along these paths that I would want to see, and two, some of the paths go a long way out from the cage. If I have my calculated final position is out by even a little bit or I am off on the angle I'm running, I could easily miss the linking stone. I strongly suspect there are numerous landmarks (blue flags, bones, etc.) along the proper path to help me keep going the right way. In the end, I think following the path is the safer way.

HC

Entry 27 - Minkata Theory

Yesterday I spent some time exploring Minkata alone. First, I revisited the number book in the library and it seemed immediately obvious what the numbers represented.

Numbers Book - Ignore Red Text

I added the red text while messing around in Minkata. I now believe some of it to be wrong, so ignore it. The diagrams are compass directions and, I can only assume, the numbers represent distances. This is only re-enforced by the 625 and 125 at the top of the page which are numbers on two nearby flags that can be found in this Age. The 625 flag does look to be about five times the distance from the cage as the 125 flag, though I have yet to confirm this. Moreover, the compass pattern can be found on the roof of the cage structure. I now have some idea as to which direction to explore.

Needless to say, I went straight to Minkata and began running in the directions indicated on the first page. Some seemed to definitely connect to objects in the Age, but others seemed less clear. I tried linking to the night instance of the Age through the stone found by Corbin the other day.

Minkata At Night

Again, a lot of running around (this time looking at the symbols and numbers on page two of the five page book) produced mixed results. What did happen, though, is I stumbled upon a third linking stone (Corbin's, the one in the cage, and now this one) - pressing it linked me back to the day instance of the Age, though I'm still pretty sure it wasn't the same one as the first stone. First off, I did find my way back to the cage and it wasn't from the same direction as from the first stone. Second, a different symbol glowed when I pressed on it (I'll get to that in a sec). The problem was, I couldn't find the third stone again yesterday. I decided to take a closer look at the linking stone.

Linking Stone

On the right you can clearly see "find your path in the stars", but I want to focus on the center symbol. In the first stone, that links to the night instance, the fissure symbol in the middle glows when the stone is touched. With the third stone (the one I couldn't find again), it was the bottom left of the four circles that glows. When the stone pictured above is pressed (it's the one in the cage) the entire center symbol glows. One last thing to note is how the right two circles are different from the left two. I'm not sure what - if anything - this means.

So here is my theory. There are a total of six stones, which includes this middle one, that need to be pressed in the correct order, with the cage one being pressed last. I also think that when the cage stone is pressed the puzzle is reset. I further suspect that when one stone is pressed, a previously closed pit opens revealing the next stone. This may be why I had so much trouble finding the third stone, as I pressed the cage stone which may have reset the puzzle.

As for the book of numbers, when I was having trouble finding anything following the direction indicated I started to think that perhaps the center numbers don't represent distances, but I can't see what else they could represent. I'm back to thinking those numbers are distances but that not every symbol leads to an object - or perhaps objects could also include the numerous pits in this Age. I also think the numbers of any particular object could appear on any particular page in the book (except the linking stones - for which I think there is only one per page. In fact, the page number could indicate the order in which to press the stones.).

So here's what I've done. I've taken the coordinates from the books and mapped them using a common bit of software from high school math classes, Geometer's Sketchpad. I'm then going back to Minkata and I'm going to see how well measuring distances by timing how long it takes to run there works. I'll time myself running to the 625 flag a few times and see how consistently the times come out. If they're reasonably close to each other, I'll have a way to measure distance. Then it's explore each location, one by one, and noting what's there, if anything. No more endless running!

Map of Page 1 Objects

One last thing. If you look up at the image of page one from the coordinate book, you'll notice the number 3125 in the bottom right. I've still no idea what this is about, other than to note that if it is a distance, it is further than any other coordinate in the book.

HC

Entry 26 - Minkata

Missed the chance to go yesterday when Minkata came on line (school play to attend), but I didn't miss tonight. Cate Alexander's conference in front of the library made it pretty obvious where to find the book, so there I went. Beside the linking book is another book full of some very large D'ni numbers - obviously some sort of key to the Age.

Minkata

The fun thing was that Corbin and Garamoth were both on-line. Corbin popped over and we went through the Age together. I invited Garamoth too (whom Corbin have never met) but he crashed when he linked in so decided that he was going to play solo at least for tonight, probably a good idea.

I thought Corbin and I did pretty good. The Age is a huge desert which seems to have no borders or paths anywhere, which certainly makes deciding which way to go a challenge. There are a few very large bones scattered about as well as a number of flags, some numbered some not. Corbin found a small cavern at the bottom of which was a large stone with Bahro carvings, though the words "Find your path in the stars" could clearly be read. Corbin clicked the middle and we linked to a spectacular, star filled, night version of the Age (I'll get a pick next time). In the center of the day version is a cage in which there is another linking stone. In the night version, the cage is smashed allowing access to the stone. Pressing the stone gets you inside the cage in the day version, but we couldn't see anything to do, so we linked back to the night version.

The two of us then began some, more or less, random exploration. We found another bone and flag, but our running around (with significant lost time) amounted to little else - all and all, though, I felt it was a pretty productive night.

So, I decided to call it night. I find when you work as a team, its more difficult to be patient. I think we both worried that we were boring the other person, so we spent more time running around and less time thinking about what we were doing. I'll have to come back and begin a more systematic mapping of both versions - there's obviously more to find and there must be meaning behind the flags, numbers, and, perhaps, the bones. It seems to me in both Ages that the stars and suns can be used to help keep our directional bearings. Of course, if they move, that idea is screwed.

I'll snap some more pics too. The night version is something.

HC

Entry 25 - Sharper Update

Why is it that whenever I plan to go into the cavern for a half-hour, it turns into two?

Upon logging in I saw a message from the DRC that the barriers had been taken down around the accident sight. I went to the city (which was still darn close to being full) and snapped a pick of some of the mourners in the pub alcove.

Mourning Wheely & Rose

The place was deathly quiet despite its nearly 40 inhabitants. Someone named Li'Sah asked if anyone knew anything about the KI light. I started private chatting with her (everyone else was pretty distracted) and helped her out. I then asked if she could help me with trying to get that bloody Kadish stone that is supposed to be behind the library. I had such success the other day with Helper420 getting into the gallery that I thought the best thing to do was to have her invite me to her Kadish and then use the gallery book to get to her 'hood instance of the city.

She went to collect the KI light (and the calendar spark there as well as the Relto page), while I went to hang out at the Metaphysical Club. She popped by and I explained my idea, but when I linked the gallery she didn't follow, which meant I ended up in the public city. The real pain was it took 10 or 15 minutes before I was there. While I was lost in transit, Li'Sah's PMing me trying to figure out where I am. On top of that Helper420 logs on with a new Helper (which is great) and she wants me to meet her. I get back to a bunch of messages. The barriers at the gallery exit were still up (they aren't there in the 'hood instances, but this was public) and the lag was ridiculous, so I linked back to my Relto. While I was talking with 420 and Li'Sah my neighbour's kid calls telling me he thinks his dog's neck is broken so I had to quickly telling Li'Sah and 420 that I had to leave. Turns out the kid was blowing smoke (he's a bit strange that way), but I decided to call it a night anyway.

But the day doesn't end there. Before all this stuff, I was waiting for a spot in the city and checking out the latest at Uru Obsession. Sharper was in the cavern yesterday talking about an adventure he has had in Negilahn. He's been reporting on the disappearing animals there for a couple of weeks and has recently determined it was some kind of predator that he was determined to catch. He ended up finding a recent kill with the head removed and followed the trail of carnage through the bush to discover that the kill had been made by a group of Bahro! The Bahro seemed bent on doing the same to him when they were intercepted by a second group of Bahro with a battle commencing. It looked like a war. Sharper's Relto book wouldn't work (the same thing happened to Wheely - undoubtedly the Bahro's doing) but the second group of Bahro linked him to safety.

We are in the middle of a Bahro war!

One last thing. Just before logging off, I noticed a new DRC message in my incoming. I only had a chance to scan it but it appears that Michael Engburg (Wheely's dad) has gone missing.

Man, after weeks of mellowing out in the cavern, things are going bonkers. To add insult to injury, I don't think I'll be able to get on line tonight because of a school play I should attend. I really wanted to drop in on Rand Miller and get to the new Age.

What a kick in the head!

HC

Entry 24 - Wheely Dies

Okay, I gotta admit. I had fun with this tonight.

After complaining about the story aspects of Uru in my last entry, I logged on tonight as Helper HC. Soon Helper420 logged on and told me she had a back way into the full public city. It seems that if you enter someone elses private instance of the city through their Kadish Gallery book, but they don't follow you, you default into the public city. Unfortunately, the DRC were prepared for this and had the gallery doors blocked off so we couldn't leave the gallery, but we could still follow the chat.

Below is the log I took of the chat, with some unfortunate public comments by your's truly. After I was done with this I logged on as HCIsland and noticed that there was room for one more in the public city entering through the Nexus (lucky me!). I went over to the bar - where I knew the accident happened - and snapped a pic. By then things had settled down a lot. You'll find the pic towards the bottom of this post.

Anyway, the short of it is that Wheely is dead. The kicker is she seemed fine but died when the DRC went down to get her, apparently killed by a Bahro who repeatedly said Nobolen over and over. Nobolen is an Age that appears in the game Myst V and was a location where the D'Ni tortured and gamed with the Bahro, ala the Roman Coloseum.

Things certainly are getting fun.

Anyway, here's the chat log.

(05/22 20:52:58) Chat.log started...
(05/22 20:53:07) Michael Engberg: Wheely.
(05/22 20:53:31) [ Shadow ]: I would not go untill it is safe.
(05/22 20:53:32) Wheely: "No... livin"? It sounds like no livin'.
(05/22 20:53:44) Michael Engberg: Just sounds.
(05/22 20:53:50) Wheely: What does that mean, Dad? Hurry!
(05/22 20:53:50) Michael Engberg: Just sounds honey. It doesn't talk.
(05/22 20:53:54) From Helper420 in D'ni-Ae'gura: bahro are getting restless
(05/22 20:53:56) Michael Engberg: We're coming.
(05/22 20:54:00) Michael Engberg: I'm coming.
(05/22 20:54:01) Wheely: Is it threatening me?
(05/22 20:54:08) To Helper420: yup
(05/22 20:54:09) Xavius: Noloben, loben - livin
(05/22 20:54:11) Michael Engberg: It helped you last night.
(05/22 20:54:18) Xavius: Noloben is an Age.
(05/22 20:54:30) Xavius: Deja` vu.
(05/22 20:54:38) To Helper420: do you have any popcorn :)
(05/22 20:54:39) Wheely: Noloben! That's it!
(05/22 20:54:45) Michael Engberg: Wheely! Just look at me.
(05/22 20:54:48) Wheely: What does that mean?
(05/22 20:54:53) Michael Engberg: Nothing.
(05/22 20:54:56) Wheely: Why is it saying that?
(05/22 20:55:02) Michael Engberg: I don't know.
(05/22 20:55:07) Xavius: Well, that's the question, eh?
(05/22 20:55:15) Wheely: That's just an age, right Dad?
(05/22 20:55:30) Michael Engberg: Don't worry about that. We're about ready to come down.
(05/22 20:55:35) Michael Engberg: We're coming.
(05/22 20:55:38) Wheely: Dad, get me out. This thing is mad or crazy!
(05/22 20:55:47) Xavius: Beach age?
(05/22 20:55:59) Michael Engberg: Move back from the hole just to be safe. I'm coming down.
(05/22 20:56:00) Xavius: Maybe this'll sink into an island or something?
(05/22 20:56:04) Michael Engberg: Here I come.
(05/22 20:56:12) From Helper420: Beech-wood aged
(05/22 20:56:13) Wheely: I'm stepping back but it's all over the place!
(05/22 20:56:15) Michael Engberg: Start lowering me down.
(05/22 20:56:18) Michael Engberg: Let's go.
(05/22 20:56:29) Xavius: Maybe the hand-sign leads to Noloben.
(05/22 20:56:29) Michael Engberg: C'mon, what are we waiting for?
(05/22 20:56:32) Xavius: Or..
(05/22 20:56:33) Wheely: It's not liking this...
(05/22 20:56:47) Michael Engberg: Let's go. Here I come.
(05/22 20:56:48) Wheely: Noloben! It keeps saying Noloben louder and louder!
(05/22 20:57:30) Xavius: Maybe it wants to get back to Noloben?
(05/22 20:57:34) Wheely: Dad?
(05/22 20:57:35) Helper HC cracks a cold brewskie
(05/22 20:57:42) Michael Engberg: I'm just about there.
(05/22 20:57:48) From Helper420: everyone saw that
(05/22 20:57:51) Wheely: Dad!?
(05/22 20:57:59) From Helper420: oops
(05/22 20:58:06) To Helper420: !!!!!
(05/22 20:58:17) To Helper420: :O
(05/22 20:58:25) From Helper420: Oh ****
(05/22 20:58:27) Michael Engberg: WHEELY!
(05/22 20:58:40) Xavius: WHEELY!
(05/22 20:58:41) Marie Sutherland: Engberg! Get back!
(05/22 20:58:49) Michael Engberg: Let me down! What are you doing?
(05/22 20:58:52) Michael Engberg: Wheely!
(05/22 20:59:01) Xavius: Oh, god..
(05/22 20:59:04) Michael Engberg: Wheely! Can you hear me?
(05/22 20:59:08) Marie Sutherland: Get someone else into the harness!
(05/22 20:59:31) Michael Engberg: Come back to the hole!
(05/22 20:59:40) Michael Engberg: Wheely!
(05/22 20:59:58) Michael Engberg: Let me down there!
(05/22 21:00:09) ResEng233: OK. Ready! Let me down
(05/22 21:00:13) Michael Engberg:
(05/22 21:00:17) From Helper420: No.. let me
(05/22 21:00:19) Michael Engberg: Where is she?
(05/22 21:00:32) Michael Engberg: 233 what is going on?
(05/22 21:00:36) Michael Engberg: Wheely!
(05/22 21:00:44) ResEng233: Pull me up! Pull me up!
(05/22 21:00:56) Michael Engberg: Where's Wheely?
(05/22 21:01:13) ResEng233: Get me back up!
(05/22 21:01:14) Michael Engberg: What are you doing? DON"T PULL HIM UP!
(05/22 21:01:23) Michael Engberg: Where is she?
(05/22 21:01:27) Michael Engberg: What are you doing?
(05/22 21:01:36) Xavius: Aww, man..
(05/22 21:01:40) ResEng233: She's gone. Get me up
(05/22 21:01:40) Michael Engberg: Put him back down there!
(05/22 21:01:51) Michael Engberg: What do you mean she's gone?
(05/22 21:02:34) Michael Engberg: I'm going down!
(05/22 21:02:34) Xavius: man..
(05/22 21:02:36) ResEng233: She's still down there, but ... you don't want to see it.
(05/22 21:02:39) Michael Engberg: I have to go down!
(05/22 21:02:56) Xavius: She was right there, i mean.
(05/22 21:02:59) Xavius: Aww, man.
(05/22 21:03:04) Xavius: What did it do?
(05/22 21:03:17) Michael Engberg: Wheely. Oh my god...
(05/22 21:03:18) Michael Engberg: No.
(05/22 21:03:21) Michael Engberg: No.
(05/22 21:03:36) Michael Engberg: Oh god.
(05/22 21:04:30) Xavius: Did it really do it?
(05/22 21:04:34) Cate Alexander: Laxman I want all DRC communication on a private channel! Now!
(05/22 21:04:35) Xavius: Did the Bahro really do it?
(05/22 21:04:54) Xavius: This can't be good.
(05/22 21:04:57) From Helper420: hear that?
(05/22 21:04:59) Xavius: The Bahro..
(05/22 21:05:05) Xavius: Man, what's happening?
(05/22 21:05:08) ResEng233: I didn't sign up for this.
(05/22 21:05:17) Cate Alexander: I want medics down there right now!
(05/22 21:05:18) ResEng233: get me out of here
(05/22 21:05:21) Cate Alexander: Laxman!
(05/22 21:05:28) To Helper420: bahro? - had the sound off
(05/22 21:05:38) From Helper420: yes multiple
(05/22 21:05:44) Xavius: No, man!
(05/22 21:05:48) To Helper420: here them now
(05/22 21:07:07) Leonor: No :(
(05/22 21:07:20) From Helper420: The naitives are restless
(05/22 21:07:42) To Helper420: I think the show's done though
(05/22 21:07:48) Xavius: Tell us what happened!
(05/22 21:07:55) To Helper420: nope
(05/22 21:08:05) From Helper420: can't beleive he use a :(
(05/22 21:08:11) Xavius: We've been here the whole time!
(05/22 21:08:19) Xavius: We want to know.. something.
(05/22 21:08:51) Xavius: What control..
(05/22 21:09:00) Xavius: Doesn't sound like they controlled that..
(05/22 21:09:17) To Helper420: we're getting just half a conversation
(05/22 21:09:44) Xavius: Her KI is till on..
(05/22 21:09:50) Xavius: Maybe she's still alive?
(05/22 21:10:00) Xavius: GO DOWN AND CHECK!

Gawkers At The Accident Site

(05/22 21:10:02) To Helper420: I may have to lay low with my Helper avatar
(05/22 21:10:04) Ieddo: Ki doesnt run according to life force unfortunatly
(05/22 21:10:04) Xavius: -.-
(05/22 21:10:17) To Helper420: that was embarassing
(05/22 21:10:21) Xavius: She's a highscool freshman, I think..
(05/22 21:10:36) Xavius: She was mauled by the Bahro.
(05/22 21:10:42) Xavius: Or whatever it was.
(05/22 21:10:42) To Helper420: the brewskie comment that is
(05/22 21:10:51) Ieddo: No one said she was mauled
(05/22 21:10:54) Ieddo: Its an assumption
(05/22 21:11:05) From Helper420: I bet is was
(05/22 21:11:31) Helper HC shakes his head
(05/22 21:11:32) Xavius: It seems pretty likely, doesn't it?
(05/22 21:11:39) From Helper420: They saw that also
(05/22 21:11:43) Xavius: I suppose a gaggle of other things could've happened.
(05/22 21:11:44) To Helper420: man
(05/22 21:11:48) Ly'net: WHEELY!
(05/22 21:11:57) Leonor: Could you guys hear anything? The Bahro saying it? Or did just wheely say it to you?
(05/22 21:11:57) Xavius: But none of them seem to really matter, since there's the end result.
(05/22 21:12:01) To Helper420: no more emotes
(05/22 21:12:01) ngc2392: Her KI should be active if she's aliva
(05/22 21:12:13) From Helper420: use control functions
(05/22 21:12:33) Xavius: If her Ki's still on, she might be alive..
(05/22 21:12:46) From Helper420: might is a strong word
(05/22 21:13:14) Leonor: What did you guys suggest from here?
(05/22 21:14:21) Leonor: Maybe the Bahro are treating us like the least now... Because of what Yeesha said...
(05/22 21:14:40) From Helper420: what kind of wording was that?
(05/22 21:14:47) To Helper420: what did yeesha say?
(05/22 21:14:55) From Helper420: don't know
(05/22 21:15:05) Cierdwyn: wow the bahro are active right now ..
(05/22 21:15:15) Xavius: That's because they know something they can't tell.
(05/22 21:15:34) From Helper420: since when are we able to use a harness?
(05/22 21:15:38) Cierdwyn: lots of chattering and cries ..
(05/22 21:16:31) Xavius: You know, for all we know, that Bahro's been there since the fall of D'ni.
(05/22 21:16:31) Helper420 is sad
(05/22 21:17:25) To Helper420: now that went out
(05/22 21:17:33) From Helper420: Wanna go back to the bevin?
(05/22 21:17:51) To Helper420: sure - I think things are done here.
(05/22 21:17:53) Helper420: corbin is there
(05/22 21:17:56) ...Chat.log stopped.

Entry 23

After being gone for a Canadian long weekend (Victoria Day - we have fireworks and everything celebrating the old, dead, queen) I was very eager to get into Uru and see the new Age that has been added. Unfortunately, it looks this has been put off until this Thursday, though Rand Miller (one of the creators of the Myst series) will be in the cavern that evening to introduce the next stage of Uru - 7:00pm in A Beginner's Bevin.

What I did walk into was a little more bizarre, at least from my perspective. It seems that a wall collapsed on a couple of explorers and the city was frantic in rescue attempts. I really find it difficult to get into this "in character" stuff and to take it that seriously. The city itself was full and inaccessible to me. Both the Greeter's Guild and Uru Obsession were so stuffed with players that I didn't want to go there because of the inevitable lag. I decided to go to Beginner's Bevin to see if they had any information as to what was going on. I was soon joined by two other players who began talking about how tragic today's events were. I left, before they said something that they might consider rude.

I decided to check out the latest updates at the Uru Obsession website. One of the explorers is dead, the other (name Wheelie and daughter of one of the DRC types) has been rescued. There's a transcript of the chat logs which I skimmed through (and which explained why the city was packed). Follow my link on the left if you want to read it yourself, but for me, I just don't really care. In order for me to become engaged in a story I need to feel I'm immersed in it, at the center of the action. I also need to know, and care about the characters. With the way Uru works, I get neither of these. This is a work of fiction, but it feels like you are following it from the periphery, and the energy required to get to the center is simply not worth it.

What I find more interesting is that I noticed in one of the pictures on Uru Obsession that there were a couple of folks with pith helmets on. This is a left over from the solo Uru game that can be found in Eder Kemo. I went there to retrieve it and found an interesting light beam emanating from a cliff face. It was gone after I linked out and came back. Most likely a bug, but pretty weird.

Strange Light in Eder Kemo

There was also a note from the DRC in the incoming in my KI which said there was a machine that you can insert you KI into to make it emit light for a period of a few seconds. There are only a handful of KI machines in the game (Gahreesen, a few at the Great Zero, and Descent). It didn't take too long to find it was the one at Descent - which made sense because it was the only one that didn't have any other purpose until now. The light itself is pretty useless, but perhaps it may become a bigger deal later. There are places where having a flashlight would sure be handy.

HC

Entry 22 - Myst*Riven*Exile - Cool!

Gametap has now put the first three Myst games on its service: Myst (well, the newer RealMyst), Riven and Exile. Very cool!.

RealMyst is the original Myst game but put into a 3D, walk through, environment, instead of the interactive slide show that was the original Myst game. Kinda the same as Uru, but without the 3rd person view. I am very nostalgic about the original Myst game and I spent some time playing through RealMyst (a version I've never played before) on the weekend. I can still remember the moment of finding my first Myst book (the Mechanical Age). I have mixed feelings about the new version. The interface is rather spastic, not nearly as smooth as Uru. Although navigating locations is much easier with it now being full 3D, the feel of the game is completely different. For example, the forest on Myst Island doesn't have anywhere near the same cathedral feel as in the original game. What is cool is the changing weather and daylight effects in each of the Ages. Very neat.

Stone Ship Age From Real Myst

My eleven year old has always wanted to play Riven, so we downloaded that but recognized there is going to be a problem because Riven needs a version of QuickTime which is six or less, but I-Tunes requires QuickTime to be version 7. I've yet to figure out a way of running both versions on the same machine. I'll have to get back to this issue, one solution being to install the Riven disks that I still have into another older machine that we don't use.

With these old Myst games coming available and new Uru material coming down the pipe in the few days, it might get hard to actually get some work down.

HC

Entry 21

Now that I have completed all the missions, I will not be making as regular posts. I am sure to pick up the pace as new material opens.

• The Guild of Helpers started off really strong but has stalled in it's growth. We have about 10 members, but at least three of them are different avatars of the same person. There are four actual Helpers. It would be great to get more. I'm working to keep the Guild public (because of demand for public space, all but the most popular 'hoods drop off the public list after a day or so) and asking the ohter helpers to do the same. There certainly is traffic going through when it is public. The demand is there. I've created a website as well. It's still a work in progress but here it is => Guild of Helpers.


• The Metaphysical Club is pretty quiet. Garamoth is on line a reasonable amount of time but we seem to rarely cross paths. I left a message on the viewer with my KI# and the URL to here and am also working to keep that 'hood public, hopefully to attract some new members. It would be great to have an active 'hood that is "out of cavern".


• The meter at the Great Zero is barely moving (if it has moved at all since the picture I put in my previous post). It's going to be a LONG time before anything happens on that front.


• Cyan is promising new material each week. This is set to begin with an all new BIG Age on May 19. There hasn't been any new material since the Great Shaft Bahro stone (about two weeks ago). Apparently, the Path of the Shell Ages will also be coming on line soon. Thia is all good. I'm very eager for something new and BIG (not dopey pods or tiny gardens).


• On the annoying side. There's a Bahro stone that I don't seem to be able to get. It is supposed to be on the ledge behind the library. I checked there some time ago, but it was gone. I let it go but then I read that some of the Bahro stones in Ae'gura disappear and reappear but they are easier to find in the private instance of the City. Well, try as I might, I couldn't get it to appear for me. I tried with Helper HC - he had it no problem - but my regular avatar, no dice. Very annoying! I'm going to try and see if I can get an invite to someone else private Ae'gura, though I'm not entirely convinced that can be done.

Viewer At the MetaPhysics Club

'till next time.

HC

Day 20 - Markers Done

Finished off the marker missions. To be honest, they aren't so bad with only a few difficult jumps. It's obvious, though, that a lot more folks are going to have to complete the missions before we can expect anything to happen. There is a display at the Great Zero that clearly indicates that we are only a small fraction of the way there.

Marker Meter at the Great Zero

My power switch experiment was a failure, though I'm hardly surprised. There has got to be something else going on with these Ages but, at least for now, I do believe there is nothing else to do save using the four portals and making the occassional revisit to make sure nothing has changed. A couple of things interesting did happen. One, I noticed the weather had changed significantly at Payiferen as there was a wind storm kicking up dust outside. I'm not sure if this is just a random element or not. I also talked with D'Annika who was waiting for the Payiferen portal too. When she linked through I checked on her location and it was D'ni Re...something (I've should have grabbed a screen shot). Also, Garamoth and I were both in Tetsonot for the portal at the same time a few days back and my portal was a few minutes after his. I don't know what this means, if anything.

The Helpers' Bevin seems to be doing well. Up to eight members, with four of them being helpers. Hope to get more so that there will be Helpers there most of the time. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Last, picked up a third sparkling thing that creates a lantern in your Relto thanks to a little hint from Corbin, and I finally figured out what the deal was. They are calender lanterns, one per month. If you notice, they are even numbered: 3, 4, 5 - March, April, May. Duh!!! So basically, they're an indicator of how long you've been in the game. Cool! Next month I'll take a shot of finding it without any hints.

Relto Calender Lanterns

HC