For anyone curious and who doesn't get enough time to keep tabs on the other boards ... like me

Both Chogon and Randy have responded to update requests and have verified that the work on the servers is still going on ... and that they haven't collapsed from exhaustion yet.

From what I can gather, they are shooting for a few months - by the end of the year at the most - before getting MORE online.

I don't want to wait that long.

It does give me time to work on the Ages I'm making. I started with 1 Age now I'm up to 5 Ages in various stages with a Ahra Pahts shell to work on. Blender isn't easy but I am learning.

Well, I have been busy fighting with Google to get the block on my website removed. Turns out there had been a hacker attack, but my webservice had already dealt with it. I have uploaded clean files and changed my password. So block or no block the site is safe now.

I have taken La Casa about as far as I can go for now. I hope folks enjoy what Isis and I have written. It is important to my RL that I get back to the writing that makes a difference there. My historical novel is still in the planning stages, but within a few weeks I will be very absorbed in matters of Mississippi c. 1860-1867.

Another project coming up is my work with a state senator to change the way Maryland dispenses drugs. As some of you are aware I was poisoned in a pharmacy accident in October 2006 and nearly died. I want to make sure this does not happen again and I have found a legislator who agrees.

I have plenty to keep me busy while I wait for MORE, and when MORE is here let me know so I can get my names registered and get on with having a safe place to play between life-consuming projects.

Latest progress report from me ....

Chogan recently appeared on the thread "Can I help Cyan and the Uru Community?"
http://www.mystonline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=268276#268276

Topics include from chances of Cyan accepting donations for the game to talks of refund policies.

Chogan's response:

Quote:

I understand people's sentiment about donations and we all really appreciate everyone's thoughts. However, I think everyone on the MORE team would like to see the game online and ready to serve people before taking any money. BTW, personally, I do like the idea of someone paying for a friend than just sending a donation. Hmmmmm, sounds like we should consider more subscription options... Thanks! Chogon

_________________
D'ni :
“Ash nazg durbatuluk ash nazg gimbatul ash nazg thrakatuluk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul”

Translation:
“One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”

MORE news from http://www.mystonline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16131

Quote:

Sorry for not starting this earlier, I know that a lot of you are waiting for news... any news of what is going on at Cyan. I hope to do more status reports in the future. MORE - UruLive: The current focus is to get the servers back online and subscribers back in the game (in other words, launched!) before the end of the year. As things get done, we will have a more accurate date. Right now it is a very small development team that is working on MORE. There are two of us ( Randy (not Rand) and myself) and a handful of other people lending a hand when they can. * A number of things are done, such as getting the build and internal testing machine running again, upgrading Oracle to 11g and a whole bunch a little details like removing the GameTap logo movie. * Creating the account system including the web interface is in process. This will allow users to create and access their MORE accounts. And the MORE server is being modified to do its user authentication against this new billing system. A way to do subscription gifting is also being implemented. * Payments. As part of the account billing system we have to interface to some online payment system. It is looking like the Paypal "Buy now" button is the most likely candidate. The "Buy now" button allows you to either pay with a paypal account or a credit card (no paypal account needed). * ResEngs. The ResEngs are an important part of the online experience and they performed a lot of different duties. Since ResEngs will be limited (in number) some of those duties may need to be spread out. A complete solution has not been determined yet but will obviously have to be before launch. * Also, along the same lines, we need to find a better way for people to report bugs and for others to be able to view and search them. This way solutions can be shared and hopefully, cut down on duplicates reported. The previous ticketing system was a good one way system (to get problems reported) but not good for public displaying. And having a bug database online seems a little too geeky for the general public. iMyst: This is a small project that probably a very few of you know about. We are porting Myst to the iPhone. Ok, before some of you start groaning, this is an outside funded project that is keeping a few developers employed... but it is really more than that. It is an interesting and fun project. This is also a very small team with three of us (which includes Derek, Rand (not Randy) and myself). Other projects: We do have a number of other projects that are suspended waiting for publisher approval or other outside funding. These range from a large epic multi-console game to smaller single console games with a number inbetween. All of the games are unique, artistic and have different aspects of exploration... and I can't tell you anything about them until they become active. --Chogon