The Game Archaeologist: The complete history of classic MMOs

Since this is my final Game Archeologist post of 2014, I want to indulge in a personal project that's been pulling at my shirt-tails for a little while now. I've been writing this column for years and have yet to create a proper guide to all of the games and subjects that I've covered. So that's what you're getting today: a "complete" (thus far) history of classic, obscure, and dead MMOs, arranged by decade.

Ever wonder where MMOs began? Wanted to know what online gamers played back in the '90s and '80s? Trying to remember which games never made it to launch? Curious whether I've covered that little-known gem that was your doorway to a larger virtual world? Then take my hand and come with me!

1960s

• PLATO (1961-1985): Part 1, Part 2

1970s

• Maze War (1973)

• Dungeons & Dragons (1974)

• Bulletin Board Systems (1978-present): History, revisiting

1980s

• MUD1 (1981) and text MMOs: History, interview, games, community part 1, community part 2

• Gameline (1983)

• Island of Kesmai (1986)

• Air Warrior (1986): Interview

• Lucasfilm's Habitat (1988): Part 1, part 2, the return

• Kingdom of Drakkar (1989-present)

1990s

• The Shadow of Yserbius (1991-96)

• AOL's Neverwinter Nights (1991-97)

• Terra: Battle for the Outlands (1996-present)

• Wing Commander Online (1996-2000, never released)

• The Realm Online (1996-present): Part 1, Part 2

• Dark Sun Online (1996-98)

• Meridian 59 (1996-present): History, interview part 1, interview part 2

• Legends of Kesmai (1996-2000)

• SubSpace (1997-present)

• Tibia (1997-present)

• Ultima Online (1997-present): History, community, interview, hands-on, field report

• Rubies of Eventide (1998-2009)

• Lineage (1998-present)

• Middle-earth Online (1998-2001 never released)

• Hero's Journey (1999-2010, never released)

• EverQuest (1999-present): History, fan interview, dev interview, community, hands-on, expansions

• Asheron's Call (1999-present): History, fan stories, interview, community, 12th anniversary

• Ultima Worlds Online Origin (1999-2001, never released)

2000s

• Sovereign (2000-03, never released)

• Phantasy Star Online/Universe (2000-10): History, community

• Dark Sector (2000-07, never released)

• World War II Online: Battleground Europe (2001-present)

• EA's Majestic (2001-02)

• RuneScape (2001-present): History, interview, community

• Dark Age of Camelot (2001-present): History, studio interview, community, interview, 10th anniversary

• Anarchy Online (2001-present): History, community, interview, hands-on, bloggers, 12th anniversary

• Fallen Age (2001, never released)

• Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2 (2002, 2006): History, community

• The Sims Online (2002-08): History, community

• True Fantasy Live Online (2002-04, never released)

• Earth & Beyond (2002-04): History, fan interview, dev interview, community

• Imperator Online (2002-05, never released)

• Climax's Warhammer Online (2002-04, never released)

• Asheron's Call 2 (2002-present): History, fansites, interview, community, return

• Neocron (2002-04)

• Ultima X Odyssey (2003-04, never released)

• Star Wars Galaxies (2003-11): History, community 1, community 2, hands-on

• PlanetSide (2003-present): History, fansite, community

• EverQuest Online Adventures (2003-12): History, interview, community

• EverQuest Mac (2003-13): History, interview, community

• Mythica (2003-04, never released)

• Puzzle Pirates (2003-present): History, interview

• Wish (2003-04, never released)

• Kingdom of Loathing (2003-present): History, interview 1, interview 2

• Shadowbane (2003-09): History, blogger, community, interview part 1, interview part 2

• A Tale in the Desert (2003-present): History, interview

• City of Heroes (2004-12): Memorial part 1, memorial part 2

• Neocron 2 (2004-present)

• Perpetual's Star Trek Online (2004-07)

• Myst Online: Uru Live (2004-present)

• The Matrix Online (2005-09): History, interview, community

• Seed (2006)

• Lost Colony (2006-07, never released)

• Dawn (mid-2000s, never released)

• Stargate Worlds (2006-10, never released)

• Guild Wars Utopia (2007, never released)

• Vanguard (2007-14): F2P reactions

• Hellgate: London (2007-present)

• Halo MMO (2008, never released)

• Warhammer Online (2008-13): History, closure

• The Chronicles of Spellborn (2008-10)

Other topics

• Ironman modes and elective permadeath

• The danger of expecting lightning to strike twice

• The care and feeding of older MMOs

• Is Turbine working on Asheron's Call 3?

• A brief history of roguelikes

• Four efforts to preserve dead MMOs

• Going forward by looking at the past

• Classic servers and you

• Classic MMOs October 2013

• Classic MMOs August 2013

• Classic MMOs July 2013

• Classic MMOs June 2013

• When sequels attack!

• Origin stories of MMO studios

• How to return to older games

• Happy birthday Fallen Earth and Warhammer Online

• Is Ultima Online 2 a doomed prospect?

• What if World of Warcraft never happened?

• Will classic MMOs survive without F2P?

• Richard Garriott's haunted cache

• When dead MMOs come back to life

• Are graphical updates worth the hassle?

• Bio break

• World of Warcraft confession

• Classic MMOs November 2011

• Classic MMOs October 2011

• Why I write

What topics and games do you want to see covered in TGA in 2015?

There are still plenty of older MMOs and interesting topics to talk about, but I'm always curious which ones you are burning to read about in this space. Sound off in the comments section!

When not clawing his eyes out at the atrocious state of general chat channels, Justin "Syp" Olivetti pulls out his history textbook for a lecture or two on the good ol' days of MMOs in The Game Archaeologist. You can contact him via email at justin@massively.com or through his gaming blog, Bio Break.