gdp's Comments

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: The Book of D'ni

Sun, 9 Oct 2016 17:59:18 +0000

Yes.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: Uru, Ages Beyond Myst

Sat, 8 Nov 2014 18:27:39 +0000

The logic of the Star Fissure depositing straight onto the Cleft is certainly debatable, but it's worth noting that there actually is a reason you can't walk up the Great Shaft at the end of Myst. The room in K'veer is at this point sealed quite solidly, and isn't reopened until major effort is expended in the Book of D'ni, which takes place after the events of Riven. As for the Mother of All Daggers, it in fact lands near the Cleft as well. You can see it atop the volcano in Myst V, although the top is not accessible in Uru. All that being said, you're right in thinking that there ought to be a whole lot more Riven refuse lying around the Cleft than there is. In my opinion, the Fissure shouldn't have been in Uru at all... it overcomplicated something that worked fine the way it was.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: Uru, Ages Beyond Myst

Sat, 18 Oct 2014 01:36:32 +0000

That is fantastic.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: Myst

Sun, 30 Mar 2014 13:24:46 +0000

Sorry for the delay in posting this comment! I don't check the queue very often so sometimes things get slowed down. Your comparison to the older Cyan games is very useful; it's a comparison which I hadn't thought of as I've never played them myself. Thanks for this; it'll probably be worked into the second draft when it finally comes.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: The Book of D'ni

Wed, 26 Feb 2014 04:11:37 +0000

Right. The only difference is that what Sirrus and Achenar do out of malice, Atrus does out of recklessness. Unintentional, yes, but still punishable as a crime in many circumstances and jurisdictions!

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: Myst

Tue, 14 Jan 2014 02:30:29 +0000

Both Mechanical and Stoneship are supposed to have been sinking into the water at the time of Atrus's initial explorations, which I think is meant to explain the apparent lack of livable space. I would agree that Channelwood is the most believable, although Stoneship is my own personal favorite, though I couldn't tell you any concrete reasons why.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: Revelation

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 01:04:50 +0000

That's an interesting tidbit, although I don't see how the circumstances of Achenar's sacrifice fit the definition of "revelation." I suppose under certain circumstances his redemption could qualify, but since we already know he's redeemed himself, that doesn't really fit either. My guess in all this is that they didn't really think it through and just thought Revelation would be a cool name. As for villains becoming heroes, I think you could argue that Saavedro is something more like an antihero than a villain, although maybe you weren't referring to him.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: The Book of D'ni

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 19:51:48 +0000

You make a good point. This is a book with an agenda (an agenda which is likewise mirrored in much of the Uru arc) and despite its failings, its message will still manage to resonate with many people. Still, a moral shouldn't be an excuse for bad storytelling. Look at works like Brave New World and Animal Farm... political, but still highly readable.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: End of Ages

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 02:17:54 +0000

My plan is for a PDF and print-on-demand release... although depending on how polished I can get it I may try looking into "real" publishers. I'm sure someone would want to publish a series of essays about a nearly-ten-years-gone video game series, right?

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: End of Ages

Mon, 8 Apr 2013 22:10:42 +0000

Thanks for your kind words! A collective volume will be forthcoming eventually.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: End of Ages

Mon, 8 Apr 2013 22:10:03 +0000

"Also the reason we felt called to the cavern in Uru was because we were all descendants of D'ni workers who fled to the surface in the past." Boy am I ever glad that never became "canon." I much prefer the explanation that we're called to the Cavern because we're Myst fans, which is less silly, not magical, and is actually the truth. I only have the Myst and Riven strategy guides, but apparently they are also a potential source of content for the proposed essay on The Apocrypha. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Twin Peaks is a very good show, particularly for Myst fans, as (like Myst) based on a combination of atmosphere, character, and mystery. The plot generally involves piecing together events after the fact, which will also be familiar to anyone here. My one caveat is that halfway through the second season it crashes and burns _badly_. Everything up until that point I would recommend without reservation, but be advised that the final act is very unpleasant. I've still got all the stuff you sent me stored in my email. My computer adventures were actually not trouble at all, but self-inflicted, so to speak. (I took it all apart and upgraded most of the components.)

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : What I Read: 2012

Sun, 7 Apr 2013 13:33:13 +0000

Well, it did take a whole year.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst In Retrospect: Uru, The Path of the Shell

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 13:18:08 +0000

Agreed. There is definitely a lot to be seen and heard in these environments, and I do enjoy exploring them just for the experience of it. Luckily the series never quite got to the level of boring and uninteresting Ages (although IMHO Ahnonay and Taghria come close) but still these places would be so much more fun with actual story content in them. Apropos of nothing, there's an interesting kind of resonance to be seen in Tay, which is one of the few Ages we get to see but not really to explore. It looks so interesting out there and to be unable to get a close look is quite frustrating--in a good way. Wanting to explore the environment but being unable to is so much more interesting than being allowed to explore it and finding it dull. I still think of Tay as a really cool Age but Taghira, at least in my memory, is pretty unremarkable (despite looking interesting at a glance). But we'll talk more about Taghira next time, won't we? ;) Move along... nothing to see here.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst In Retrospect: Uru, The Path of the Shell

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 13:08:38 +0000

Oh, THAT Invisible War. Sorry, not having played it I didn't catch your meaning, although I was vaguely aware of its bad reputation. (Deus Ex is on my to-play list after this project is over, although I can't say whether I intend to review it or not.)

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst In Retrospect: Uru, The Path of the Shell

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:35:56 +0000

I'm curious what you mean by "invisible war."

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: Uru, Ages Beyond Myst

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:34:31 +0000

What would you like me to say about Relto? In all honesty I've always thought of it as a kind of nothing place and I'm not really sure what you're envisioning.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst In Retrospect: Uru, To D'ni

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 11:49:01 +0000

Yeah, I remembered that. In some ways that makes the books' inclusion even weirder, though, since it means that Phil completed POTS retroactively, after he was presumably dead.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: Uru, Ages Beyond Myst

Sun, 6 Jan 2013 22:11:12 +0000

I'm making this up as I go along, but I'm guessing the bahro will be discussed most thoroughly in Myst V.

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: The Book of Ti'ana

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 03:47:55 +0000

I'm sure they could have done soundings, but still it seems like something that would have merited more serious consideration. (Also, they couldn't really know how far from the surface they really were, I'd think, another interesting problem.)

John W. Allie - Airborne Cactus : Myst in Retrospect: The Book of Ti'ana

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 16:44:51 +0000

The Book of D'ni is already done! Check it out here: http://johnwallie.com/2012/05/27/myst-in-retrospe...