I’m still having video driver problems, so while I’m trying to fix those, I’m going to talk about Myst Online stuff here. :) If you’re uninterested, please skip, but there is plenty of shiny ahead.

One of the first places that you can go into, whether you’ve got a free account or a paid account, is your neighborhood, or bevin. Inside of the story, they are places of gathering inside the cavern. As far as I can tell, there are 20 people to every bevin. When your bevin-mates, or neighbors, are online, you can see them in your KI.

Initially, the neighborhood can create community between the new people that are logging in, assuming that they’re logged in at the same time. Eventually, as the users progress and get involved in either politics, helping others out, exploring, or what-have-you, you can leave your neighborhood, and join others. Some neighborhoods have decided to claim that they are Guilds, following the old D’ni guild system. The validity of this is in question, but I haven’t heard of any direct challenges to this. I haven’t heard much from the DRC about it at all, actually.

That brings us to another point. The DRC, or D’ni Restoration Council, makes use of the Beginners Bevin’s amphitheater, pictured here. They hold regular tours, as well as question-and-answer sessions with Restoration Engineers. In case you were wondering, that’s the guy in the hard hat.

I’m the bald guy sitting in the first row. Just sayin’.

Not all of the neighborhoods are exactly the same. They contain a bit of variety when it comes to what books their linking rooms have. Some of them have such fanciness as Chinese lamps, beach balls, and other things. Being on primarily after midnight eastern time, I don’t run into a ton of people. But there are a ton of neighborhoods, and they’ve been getting more populated, even as late as I’m usually on.

If you end up going to try out the free account, I’ve got a challenge for you. It sounds cheesy, but it’s cool as hell. When you’re in a neighborhood, try to find the light switches for the lower level. I could spend fifteen minutes just playing with the lights… but then, I’m easily amused. :)