Letters from RAWA
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This page contains copies of personal emails and public posts about Linking and The Art of Writing which were written in 2001 by RAWA, Richard A. Watson, Cyan programmer and ultimate D'ni historian. The words in italics are the questions from fans. The plain gray print is written by Richard Watson.
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From: Richard A. Watson
Discusses the box which contains the Linking Book back to D'ni from Age 37 (BoA, chapter 11).
One fan wrote:
Another fan wrote:
RAWA wrote:
From: Richard A. Watson
What I'm really wondering is if the statement made in the strategy guide is accurate. The guide says that once the Age "dies," the linking panel no longer works. If that is true, then when can an Age be said to have died? Was BoD inaccurate when they linked that one guy to Sedona in the E.V. suit and discovered that the planet had gone nova? Is going nova not enough for an Age to be considered dead?
But there is a significant difference between Sedona and Riven:
Sedona was a properly written Age that happened to have its star explode.
Riven's instability was caused by Gehn's tampering, and was further affected by the mysterious Fissure.
These differences may account for why one Book still worked, while the other did not.
:) RAWA From Ask Dr. Watson on the D'ni Guild
D. S. wrote: "If you burn all of the linking books to an age does that mean that the age is destroyed?"
Not at all. The Linking Books just provide links to an Age. One analogy would be to think of a Linking Book as similar to a bridge, and an Age as an island. If you burn the bridge, the island will still exist, you just won't be able to get to it.
From: Richard A. Watson A fan wrote: Just wanted to clear one thing up, then I'll let y'all get back to discussing linking theory... There isn't anything that says linking to the same Age at a different time is impossible in the "it _cannot_ happen" sense of the word, but it is so extremely unlikely that it for all intents and purposes it is considered impossible in the "it _does not_ happen" sense of the word.
It's the same reason that it is "impossible" to write two Descriptive Books (not Linking Books) to the same Age (even ignoring whether it's the same time or earlier time, etc.), even if you write the exact same words in both Books.
The illustration I usually use to demonstrate this is the idea of flipping a fair coin and getting heads a billion times in a row. There's no reason that it _cannot_ happen, but I for one will not be the one to keep flipping coins until it happens.
To add trying to link to a specific time in a specific Age into the equation makes "impossible" even more extremely unlikely. :)
The problem is a side effect of the Great Tree of Possibilities. No matter how detailed your description, there are innumerable Ages out there that will match it, and there is an uncontrollable, unpredictable "chaotic" element that "decides" which Age the Book will link to. They may be indistinguishable as far as we're concerned, but they will be distinct, separate Ages.
Carry on...
:) RAWA From: Richard A. Watson
RAWA wrote:
A fan wrote:
RAWA wrote:
The games try to get the most vital information across, but we're limited to
a short speech where the player's part of the conversation is implied. But
if you dig, the info you're looking for is there.
From the Epilogue:
"And though I am unable to understand how, the very flow of stars that
brought my Myst book into worthy hands, I am sure served as a safe passage
home for my friend."
From Gehn's journal re. the Fissure:
"It seems that the fabric of this Age has been breached in a way that
permits matter to be hospitably exchanged between two discreet but
overlapping spaces- much like a Link,"
That implies that he knows it's safe, he just doesn't know where it goes.
You, the player, know that it goes from Riven to Earth - that's how you got
the Myst Book in the first place...
A fan wrote:
From Atrus' speech at the end of Myst:
"Oh, and reward. I'm sorry, but all I have to offer you is the library on
the island of Myst. The books that are contained there."
It's not much. He knows that. But at this point, he doesn't have anything
else to offer.
I don't know what to say to that one. The journals in Myst and Riven seem
pretty clear on this to me. Admittedly that's easy for me to see from this
side of things.
But the Book of Atrus, imo, is _really_ clear that the D'ni are out of the
story during the time of Myst and Riven.
Sorry it isn't clearer.
:)
RAWA
Richard A. Watson
From: Richard A. Watson
on 9/4/01, J. Patrick Greer wrote:
When a linking books is finished Yes, you can still see the words.
Is The panel on the first, last or another page?
Generally the panel is near the beginning of the Book, just for the sake of
convenience. The vast majority of the people who want to use the Book just
want to open the Book and link. But it is not required to be there.
RAWA
Richard A. Watson
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