Cyan Chat

From MYSTlore

This page is written from an OOC point of view. Events and elements surrounding the Myst Universe are regarded as fictional.

Created and maintained by MarkD, CyanChat (cho.cyan.com/chat) is the oldest and generally most popular live chatroom for Myst fans. According to MarkD, the earliest e-mail to mention CyanChat is from December 11, 1996; the exact date of creation is unknown.

On a normal day, CyanChat generally has between a few and a dozen users; during special events, it can grow into several tens of users, but has been known to crash when unable to cope with the load. Topics range from the expected (e.g., user-to-user support in solving puzzles or getting games to work at all, answering questions with regard to D'ni technology or storyline details, etc.) to the banally off-topic or the absurd.

CyanChat does not feature rooms, user accounts or other such sophisticated features found in many other systems, although private messaging is possible. Its simplicity makes it very easy for people to immediately participate, even when not familiar.

It also has an automatic word filter, trying to strictly enforce a "G-rated" level of language, either merely refusing to send a message (with an "I can't repeat that!" error), or banning users either "until tomorrow" or permanently, leaving them only to ask MarkD via e-mail to undo the ban. Unfortunately, this has been known to work incorrectly in the past, occasionally leading to unexpected, unwarranted banning (sometimes lasting as long as several months) or merely amusing, short-lived errors, such as the Shell misinterpretation, or the similar Uranus one.