Good Old-Fashioned Family in a Virtual World
Ok, so I'm an Uruite....as in someone who was born virtually in Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. Paraphrased one more time...It was my first online world.
In There, as an Uruite, as all of we Uruites are, have to deal with constant discrimination, fear, random acts of stupidity, and so forth because we had to migrate from Uru to There when our homeworld was shut down.
Now, let me explain the difference between an Uruite and a Therian. First, there is no comparison of the two...yes, they're both made of pixels, but the based in carbon, real life, flesh and bones people behind the avatars are two totally different breeds.
Over time in my posts, you can see that I do grouse quite a bit about Therians, in general because they "Just don't get it" for the most part, "it" being everything from having manners, taste in clothes, how to run their world, etc, they just don't get it. It would be like trying to explain to a 5 year old why they shouldn't stick their finger in an electrical outlet, they don't get it, but they plod along anyways...next thing you know....ZAP!
Uruites, thank the Bahro (D'ni speak for omnipitent beings, D'ni being the language of Uru) are like talking to a group of people that you respect...yeah, we've got our dummies and our wierdos, but nothing on the scale of stupidity like they have in There. Being around people from Uru is like being caught at a MENSA convention...These people are just that smart.
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is a part of the Myst Series of Games created by the brothers Rand and Robyn Miller. Myst is the all time best selling adventure game title in history. The Myst Series is geared towards the high IQ set, they are games built around puzzle and problem solving...but the community is one that they will hand you a walkthrough if you get stuck and they will give you all of the time and patience in the world to get you off on the right foot and on your way to solving the puzzle. Now, let's talk about UruLive. Thank the Bahro for UruLive. This is where Myst fans from all over the world can come and share in a virtual online world.
In Uru, if you get stuck on a puzzle, or if you are having problems, or even if you are having REAL LIFE problems, these folks circle up the wagons. They will stay with you until everything gets worked out right. Once they know you, you're family and they will tell you so. I have never in my life encountered a spirit of community as the Uruites have. Therians can't even scratch it with a Diamond Bit Drill.
You see, we Uruites had a home until February of 2004. Then the worst came, they shut down our world. The reasons why they shut it down is anyones guess, the details were never clear, but in the end, we got shut down. That meant that over 10,000 of us were left as UruFugees, or as our good resident Ethnographer, Dr. Arte puts it, the Uru Diaspora. I remember the night Live died...I remember sitting at my computer crying as our world came crashing down.
Why was it so hard on me? Because, I was living in a foreign country, I had no real friends and the only way I could keep from going stir crazy was the fact that I had my friends in my online world to keep me sane. With the pull of a plug, it was all gone. No friends, no world, no nothing...just looking at 10 feet deep of Canadian winter snow. It was a hard time.
Well, then there was this group of hackers in our little Uru community that sat down and decided, "Hey we're smart, let's figure out how we can run this on our own." Well, they didn't exactly say that, but in a round about way, they did...and they did just that, they figured out how it worked...so they went to those sweet fellas up at Cyan (the makers of Uru) and asked if they could get the coding to run it on their own...well, Until Uru was born...or as we Uruites call it, UU.
Well, UU was a sight for sore eyes, we got to go home...it wasn't what we were hoping for with UruLive, because at least if Live would have gone Live, we would have had new content, but no, no such luck, we were stuck with everything we had when the plug got pulled, which for most of us, was enough, hell, we were home, that's all that mattered. But, not everyone came back to UU, in fact, some people didn't want to come back to relive the fact that they hurt so bad when the lights went out, sometimes, like some of my Uru Family say, you just can't go home again. So they stayed in the homes they had already made in There or Second Life.
Well, when UU opened up, I went home, I got to see the community from a new angle, while I was busy being a sports reporter before Live died, I really never knew the community for it's human side, I only knew the game side...well, what I found out really opened my eyes...it was right in front of me the whole time, one of my good friends, Pepsi, was in a wheelchair! I was astounded, that woman and I ran everywhere together...she never stood still! But, her Uru avatar was allowing her to walk, and that for me was an eye-opener, there I was, able to get up and walk, jump, climb and do all the things that 2 legged people can do, and there was Pepsi in her wheelchair, striken with Juvinile Arthritis. Something had to give right then and there, and that was me...I came up with the D'Olympics, (which later got renamed to the D'ni Games because the folks who took it over from me were afraid of copyright problems) 12 events that showcased the athleticism of our avatars...if Pepsi liked to run, then, by God, I was going to have her finish a marathon under her own power. THAT would have been one heck of an experience for her, but she was unable to ever run it, she had to have surgery on her foot, then she couldn't come to the computer anymore, then, she died. It still hurts me to this day that she is gone. I can't even write about it without crying, gosh I miss her so much....but, I pulled it off, 12 events, qualifiers, semi's and finals in 3 days. Pepsi would have been proud. After the D'Olympics, I was burnt out, there was nothing more I could give that community at that point, then Pepsi died...everytime I went into UU, it was like putting myself in a hurt-locker...but then, there was a post from Soosi...
Soosi's post read "There is a memorial for Pepsi at Terokh Jeruth of Uru", you can join us by going to www.there.com. So, I went. Almost 2 years later I'm still There. I don't know, maybe it's because I want to stay close to Pepsi's memorial, maybe it's because I'm a glutton for punishment, maybe, hell, I don't know why I stay in There, but I do know this...Therians aren't, excuse my language, Shit compared to the Uru Folks. Hell, the Therians can't even reach up and scratch the backsides of the Uru Folks. You want quality, mature, strong and good people to be around, you go to UruLive. You want a pack of immature boneheads, you go to There. That's as point-blank truth as you're going to get it.
The only reason There survived after they tried to pull the plug on that world was because of us Uruites...we're the ones that held steadfast because we didn't want our home taken away again. We're the ones who brought all of our friends while the Native Therians fled like rats from a sinking ship. Would you think the Therians would say thank you? I know I would have...but hell no, why would they want to do that? When we showed up, they thought we were going to take over...well, when you've got an idiot at the helm of a ship, hell yes you're going to let someone who's got a grip on the situation take over! We didn't go into There to take the damn place over, hell no, we went over there because we didn't have a home to go to of our own. We were refugees! Where else were we supposed to go? Our culture in itself got splintered as we went to Second Life, World of Warcraft or some that just faded back into the real world...
When we Uruites got into There, we were and still are treated like second class citizens...there has been an Uruite sitting on There's Members Advisory Board (MAB) since the Spring of 2004! We run their university, we give more to the community than we receive, but yet, what the heck do we get for our time, efforts, blood, sweat and tears??? A kick in the face. From the beginning when the first Uruites set foot into There, we were and still are, ostracized, because we are the breed of cat that everyone wants to be. We are intelligent, strong and extremely community based.
The Uru Community in There is my family. I have my online Dad, Mom, Little Sister, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, everything that you would want in a family, I've got every time I log in. You know the saying, "You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family"? Wrong! I got to pick my family this time around and I love all of them dearly, just like we were all flesh and blood kin. We've been through hell and high water together, we've seen each other through deaths, births, weddings, proposals, holidays, birthdays, you name it, and we go through it like a family should.
I guess Therians are just plain jealous of what we've got. And after all of the crap all of us Uruites been through, guess what, we're a Good old-fashioned family in a Virtual World. I promise you, if one more Therian walks up to me and says bad word one about my Uru Family, there is going to be hell to pay. Like my t-shirt says, "The Bahro are my friends, and they don't like you very much."
But, this Christmas, all of us Uruites get a special gift. They're re-opening UruLive. No, it doesn't have the vehicles and the activities that There does, but by the Bahro, we get to go home. Our real home, where some of us were born and bred...we get to go back to Uru, where, like our old saying goes, "You are You".
I know some of us will be going home to stay, others will will be going back and forth like the doors in a Scooby-Doo cartoon...
Hopefully, some of the smarter Therians will let go of their prejudice and come with us...maybe then we can give them the same warm welcome they gave us...or better yet, we can stay true to our culture and give them the welcome they should have given us.
In There, as an Uruite, as all of we Uruites are, have to deal with constant discrimination, fear, random acts of stupidity, and so forth because we had to migrate from Uru to There when our homeworld was shut down.
Now, let me explain the difference between an Uruite and a Therian. First, there is no comparison of the two...yes, they're both made of pixels, but the based in carbon, real life, flesh and bones people behind the avatars are two totally different breeds.
Over time in my posts, you can see that I do grouse quite a bit about Therians, in general because they "Just don't get it" for the most part, "it" being everything from having manners, taste in clothes, how to run their world, etc, they just don't get it. It would be like trying to explain to a 5 year old why they shouldn't stick their finger in an electrical outlet, they don't get it, but they plod along anyways...next thing you know....ZAP!
Uruites, thank the Bahro (D'ni speak for omnipitent beings, D'ni being the language of Uru) are like talking to a group of people that you respect...yeah, we've got our dummies and our wierdos, but nothing on the scale of stupidity like they have in There. Being around people from Uru is like being caught at a MENSA convention...These people are just that smart.
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is a part of the Myst Series of Games created by the brothers Rand and Robyn Miller. Myst is the all time best selling adventure game title in history. The Myst Series is geared towards the high IQ set, they are games built around puzzle and problem solving...but the community is one that they will hand you a walkthrough if you get stuck and they will give you all of the time and patience in the world to get you off on the right foot and on your way to solving the puzzle. Now, let's talk about UruLive. Thank the Bahro for UruLive. This is where Myst fans from all over the world can come and share in a virtual online world.
In Uru, if you get stuck on a puzzle, or if you are having problems, or even if you are having REAL LIFE problems, these folks circle up the wagons. They will stay with you until everything gets worked out right. Once they know you, you're family and they will tell you so. I have never in my life encountered a spirit of community as the Uruites have. Therians can't even scratch it with a Diamond Bit Drill.
You see, we Uruites had a home until February of 2004. Then the worst came, they shut down our world. The reasons why they shut it down is anyones guess, the details were never clear, but in the end, we got shut down. That meant that over 10,000 of us were left as UruFugees, or as our good resident Ethnographer, Dr. Arte puts it, the Uru Diaspora. I remember the night Live died...I remember sitting at my computer crying as our world came crashing down.
Why was it so hard on me? Because, I was living in a foreign country, I had no real friends and the only way I could keep from going stir crazy was the fact that I had my friends in my online world to keep me sane. With the pull of a plug, it was all gone. No friends, no world, no nothing...just looking at 10 feet deep of Canadian winter snow. It was a hard time.
Well, then there was this group of hackers in our little Uru community that sat down and decided, "Hey we're smart, let's figure out how we can run this on our own." Well, they didn't exactly say that, but in a round about way, they did...and they did just that, they figured out how it worked...so they went to those sweet fellas up at Cyan (the makers of Uru) and asked if they could get the coding to run it on their own...well, Until Uru was born...or as we Uruites call it, UU.
Well, UU was a sight for sore eyes, we got to go home...it wasn't what we were hoping for with UruLive, because at least if Live would have gone Live, we would have had new content, but no, no such luck, we were stuck with everything we had when the plug got pulled, which for most of us, was enough, hell, we were home, that's all that mattered. But, not everyone came back to UU, in fact, some people didn't want to come back to relive the fact that they hurt so bad when the lights went out, sometimes, like some of my Uru Family say, you just can't go home again. So they stayed in the homes they had already made in There or Second Life.
Well, when UU opened up, I went home, I got to see the community from a new angle, while I was busy being a sports reporter before Live died, I really never knew the community for it's human side, I only knew the game side...well, what I found out really opened my eyes...it was right in front of me the whole time, one of my good friends, Pepsi, was in a wheelchair! I was astounded, that woman and I ran everywhere together...she never stood still! But, her Uru avatar was allowing her to walk, and that for me was an eye-opener, there I was, able to get up and walk, jump, climb and do all the things that 2 legged people can do, and there was Pepsi in her wheelchair, striken with Juvinile Arthritis. Something had to give right then and there, and that was me...I came up with the D'Olympics, (which later got renamed to the D'ni Games because the folks who took it over from me were afraid of copyright problems) 12 events that showcased the athleticism of our avatars...if Pepsi liked to run, then, by God, I was going to have her finish a marathon under her own power. THAT would have been one heck of an experience for her, but she was unable to ever run it, she had to have surgery on her foot, then she couldn't come to the computer anymore, then, she died. It still hurts me to this day that she is gone. I can't even write about it without crying, gosh I miss her so much....but, I pulled it off, 12 events, qualifiers, semi's and finals in 3 days. Pepsi would have been proud. After the D'Olympics, I was burnt out, there was nothing more I could give that community at that point, then Pepsi died...everytime I went into UU, it was like putting myself in a hurt-locker...but then, there was a post from Soosi...
Soosi's post read "There is a memorial for Pepsi at Terokh Jeruth of Uru", you can join us by going to www.there.com. So, I went. Almost 2 years later I'm still There. I don't know, maybe it's because I want to stay close to Pepsi's memorial, maybe it's because I'm a glutton for punishment, maybe, hell, I don't know why I stay in There, but I do know this...Therians aren't, excuse my language, Shit compared to the Uru Folks. Hell, the Therians can't even reach up and scratch the backsides of the Uru Folks. You want quality, mature, strong and good people to be around, you go to UruLive. You want a pack of immature boneheads, you go to There. That's as point-blank truth as you're going to get it.
The only reason There survived after they tried to pull the plug on that world was because of us Uruites...we're the ones that held steadfast because we didn't want our home taken away again. We're the ones who brought all of our friends while the Native Therians fled like rats from a sinking ship. Would you think the Therians would say thank you? I know I would have...but hell no, why would they want to do that? When we showed up, they thought we were going to take over...well, when you've got an idiot at the helm of a ship, hell yes you're going to let someone who's got a grip on the situation take over! We didn't go into There to take the damn place over, hell no, we went over there because we didn't have a home to go to of our own. We were refugees! Where else were we supposed to go? Our culture in itself got splintered as we went to Second Life, World of Warcraft or some that just faded back into the real world...
When we Uruites got into There, we were and still are treated like second class citizens...there has been an Uruite sitting on There's Members Advisory Board (MAB) since the Spring of 2004! We run their university, we give more to the community than we receive, but yet, what the heck do we get for our time, efforts, blood, sweat and tears??? A kick in the face. From the beginning when the first Uruites set foot into There, we were and still are, ostracized, because we are the breed of cat that everyone wants to be. We are intelligent, strong and extremely community based.
The Uru Community in There is my family. I have my online Dad, Mom, Little Sister, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, everything that you would want in a family, I've got every time I log in. You know the saying, "You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family"? Wrong! I got to pick my family this time around and I love all of them dearly, just like we were all flesh and blood kin. We've been through hell and high water together, we've seen each other through deaths, births, weddings, proposals, holidays, birthdays, you name it, and we go through it like a family should.
I guess Therians are just plain jealous of what we've got. And after all of the crap all of us Uruites been through, guess what, we're a Good old-fashioned family in a Virtual World. I promise you, if one more Therian walks up to me and says bad word one about my Uru Family, there is going to be hell to pay. Like my t-shirt says, "The Bahro are my friends, and they don't like you very much."
But, this Christmas, all of us Uruites get a special gift. They're re-opening UruLive. No, it doesn't have the vehicles and the activities that There does, but by the Bahro, we get to go home. Our real home, where some of us were born and bred...we get to go back to Uru, where, like our old saying goes, "You are You".
I know some of us will be going home to stay, others will will be going back and forth like the doors in a Scooby-Doo cartoon...
Hopefully, some of the smarter Therians will let go of their prejudice and come with us...maybe then we can give them the same warm welcome they gave us...or better yet, we can stay true to our culture and give them the welcome they should have given us.
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