OG’s BLOG

I’ve been trying to think of something profound to say, or, failing that, something at least poignant, about the demise of my former employer. I could quote you some appropriate song lyrics (Cyan is playing Greenday’s “Time of Your Life” on their hold music) or I could make some literary reference (the Elves going into the West from Lord of the Rings comes to mind as particularly apt). But I think I’ll just let that image up there do most of it for me – Sunset on Geargate – and then I’ll write a few paragraphs trying to sum up the rest of it.

I can’t go on about how I’m surprised. You could argue I’ve been expecting this for over two years… I voted with my feet and got out before it happened.

But now that it’s happened, I’m sadder than I thought I’d be. The reality is so much more real than the theory. Rand said to me two years ago, if things went the way I thought, I’d get to say I told you so. But it turns out, I didn’t want to be right about this.

However, even now, the reports I’m getting are varied. Some say it’s The End of Cyan. Others say everyone but the CEO were laid off, which looks like what some other adventure game companies have done. This is an intriguing thought — there is one final, major release due from Cyan (Myst V) and if that money flows back into Rand’s pockets after years of impoverishing himself to keep me and the others employed, I don’t begrudge him a dime. And maybe, just maybe, it would give him enough seed money to start Something Else? Other reports hint that there is a “skeleton crew” to remain at Cyan, trying to get something going again, and that certainly makes me wonder…

After Riven, most of the employees were either laid off or left of their own accord, and Cyan ramped back up for URU. This could be like that, although someone I trust, who worked there during those days, assures me that this current situation is “way different than after Riven”.

Yet, optimism is the stock-in-trade at Cyan, so no one’s saying Cyan is actually dead. Rand said to me on more than one occasion that God seems to look out for Cyan, and I suppose He does. I lived through one too many times we should have been out of business, yet somehow kept going, not to at least acknowledge the truth in that statement.

I suppose anything can happen. A publisher may indeed come along and fund a new project, and I certainly wish them all the best. This is one phoenix I would sincerely love to see rise from its ashes. Hell, I would love the opportunity to personally get something new and cool off the ground with Rand. Cyan East. I begged him for it, once upon a time.

My road to Cyan began with the Making Of Myst movie. There’s a moment in that movie on the original disc that shows some of the puzzles and environments under design on paper, and later, under construction in the computer. There is a shot of brothers Rand and Robyn sitting on the floor in Chris Brandkamp’s garage, thinking up the puzzles and the environments, and when I saw it, I knew I wanted to do that. And I did get to do that, for a time. Picked up the family and moved to Spokane.

The Cyantists were a unique bunch. We were pulled from all over the world, drawn by that singular vision to make the coolest virtual worlds imaginable. There were a lot of good times, and for a while, Cyan continued after I left. Now… it will have to live on in memory.

The death of a dream, that’s what we’re really talking about, and that’s why it is so hard to take. It must be worst for Rand and the guys who helped him launch his company. But it’s certainly no picnic for the dedicated and talented artists and programmers who brought The Worlds to life. They are talented, and they will not have any trouble getting jobs, but I feel for them just the same.

And as for me… Myst is the game that literally changed my life. I say that in all seriousness… playing that game led directly to my employment at Cyan, which meant a cross country move and an entirely different course to my life. In light of that, it’s no small thing that the job is not only behind me, but behind all the friends who worked there with me. I miss them, and it’s only going to get worse now they most of them will probably scatter to the four winds. And the Building. *sigh*. Silly to say it, but I miss the old Building, with that glorious garden and waterfall in the back…

But it’s kind of like when your parents finally move out of the house you grew up in. Someone will inhabit that house, but it will never be the same. It won’t have the same meaning. It won’t be home.

So, this could be it, the final end of Cyan. I’ll miss knowing they are there, fighting the good fight. I’ll miss the games. But most of all, I’ll miss The Dream.

The King is dead. Long live, should he return, The King.