Here’s another MMO that I wouldn’t have pegged as cultivating a strong following, but apparently Shadowbane won enough people over that the Shadowbane Emulator has been going strong for several “seasons” now. While FreeSO aims to be faithful to the original game, it includes many quality of life changes such as hardware rendering, custom dynamic lighting, hi-res output and >2 floor houses.” Shadowbane This Sims Online emulator has been in the works since 2015 and is “a reimplementation of The Sims Online’s game engine, using C# and Monogame. “You should know that Toontown Rewritten is a fan-made revival of Disney’s Toontown Online, created using publicly available downloads and information made freely available to the general public,” the site owners caution.Įven as The Sims 5 might be angling toward multiplayer, there’s a way to play virtual dollhouse with other people, thanks to FreeSO. And not just exist, but flourish and develop for many years now! It’s actually become one of the more well-developed and fully supported emulators on the market. There’s even a wiki! Toontown OnlineĬonsidering how relatively obscure Toontown Online was and how litigious Disney is, it’s rather shocking to see a rogue server - Toontown Rewritten - exist. This led to the creation of the Earth & Beyond Emulator, allowing players to jump back into the cockpit of their spacecraft and be the best pilots they can be.
Earth & Beyond went into the black back in 2004, but it lived long enough for a devoted fanbase to form. How long will players carry a torch for a short-lived MMO? Many times its actual lifespan, it turns out. MOP’s own Larry wrote a Hyperspace Beacon that went into deeper detail on a few these servers if you are interested. And that’s just the tippy-top of the number of live shards out there. And for those who enjoyed the post-NGE era, SWG Legends has you covered. You want a blend of pre- and post-NGE? That’s Sunrunner 2. If you want to exist right in the middle of the CU era, SWG Restoration is your bet. For those looking to experience the game before the controversial Combat Upgrade, there’s SWGEmu. The efforts to bring Star Wars Galaxies back have been extensive and varied, with different shards approaching different eras of the game’s development. You don’t have to travel in MMO circles for very long before learning the passion and love that people still hold for SOE’s past sandbox game. As such, MOP cannot formally endorse such activity and advises caution when evaluating whether or not you engage with these servers. We will not, however, be looking at emulators for currently running live games (i.e., Ultima Online, World of Warcraft, EverQuest, etc.) as those are less about preservation and more about competition.Īlso, we should note that in most of the cases below, there has been no legal permission given to operate these games. This week, we’ll be looking at 10 MMOs that were dead and buried at one point and have received a new lease on life thanks to rogue servers.
Preservation of long-since deceased MMORPGs is a topic that is near and dear to our heart here, and it is uplifting to see hard-working volunteers do the heavy lifting of keeping these sunsetted games alive - and even updated! - via emulators.
Last December, the Massively OP 2019 Awards gave its “ Best Trend” nod to the rise of rogue servers in the MMO genre.
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