sunsetted
Latest
One Shots: No mo' power rangers
While we knew Realtime Worlds was in trouble, we're not entirely sure even the company's remaining employees were expecting All Points Bulletin to go offline quite this fast. That's why, despite this screenshot not technically being big enough for a normal One Shots, we simply couldn't resist running it anyway, as it is the lone, last All Points Bulletin image in our One Shots mailbox, showing off yet another example of the crazy costuming people pulled off in the game. This image comes to us from KCG, who writes in: "[This is] me (green ranger) and my criminal bros decked out in ranger gear causing crimes in the Waterfront District. GO GO POWER RANGERS!" If you've got any hours left (as some of our staff members do), you'd best get in-game and burn 'em quick. Perhaps you'll see these three rangers there. If you're playing an MMO -- or played, in the case of sunsetted games -- we'd love to see screenshots from you. Gather up some of your favorites and email them in to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post your images out here and give you the credit. %Gallery-85937%
Earth Eternal showing signs of life
We'd heard about Sparkplay Media's issues with raising further funding to continue its independent anthropomorphic MMO, Earth Eternal. When the game and overall site dropped offline a few weeks ago without any further official statement, we figured that time had run out, and it was simply the sunsetting of another MMO. That's why we were surprised to see both the Earth Eternal Facebook and Twitter accounts light back up, if only to let us know someone's still there -- and that there's still hope. The message on Facebook notes, "...our ISP pulled the plug for non-payment, which was expected. I wasn't able to give you any warning, unfortunately, because I was at Burning Man and completely out of reach for the week that it went down. Full backups of all the data exist and the company that is in the process of buying Earth Eternal will be starting it back up again in the nearish future." As to what company is seeking to purchase the game and how fast this process will be moving, we have no idea. However, we're certain that this nugget of reboot hope is welcome news to those who were enjoying this kitschy, yet fun, title. With any luck we'll be hearing something from a representative of Sparkplay before too long.
NIDA Online shutting down tomorrow
In what must be one of the fastest closures we've heard about, it would appear that GameKiss has decided to shut down their "action MMO" Nida Online tomorrow -- just short of 8 months after it launched into open beta. While they don't give specifics as to precisely why they've opted to shut down the game, MMOCrunch is citing financial issues as the reason that GameKiss has decided on this course of action. In either case, while it's never good to see any MMO community lose its home, we suspect that Nida Online players will likely bounce back. After all, there are a great many other free-to-play games with solid populations to choose from -- and a new one launching (seemingly) every other day.
One Shots: Patience, grasshopper
While The Matrix Online is gone, there are those among us who remember the world fondly and miss its futuristic role-playing and live events. As we cannot get shiny new One Shots from these events any longer, we wanted to share this one from the heyday of the game that was sent in to us by Bv_dinner. She writes in to explain this moment from the history of the Recursion server in The Matrix Online: "[This is a screenshot of] my toon BlackVelvet aka BV sitting at one of the dojos waiting for other team members to show up. I was on a roleplaying server so I was waiting for the event to occur. Good memories and good friends were made there." If you played an MMO that is gone but not forgotten, and have screenshots you'd like to dust off and share, why not send those to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com? Be sure to include your name, the name of the game, and any stories you'd like to tell us about what went on in the screenshot. After all, screenshots -- like experiences -- are better when shared! %Gallery-85937%
One Shots: Goodnight, sweet prince
With the change in the new year, we bid a fond farewell to Dungeon Runners, which shuffled off the Internets last night. It's always sad to see an MMO go, especially a wacky, fun, free-to-play title. Thankfully, Massively reader Ripper McGee was on-hand last night to capture this screenshot from the final moments. We'll turn it over to Ripper to explain: Dungeon Runners was shut down for good at midnight last night/this morning. Here [is a shot] from yesterday. [This] is me on my main character next to the bomb Steve Nichols planted in the middle of Townston. All of the players assumed the bomb would go off at midnight, but it was actually just decoration. At midnight, we were all simply disconnected from the server.... Prior to that, though, the server population was completely full (first time in a long time)!If you have any screenshots from the end of Dungeon Runners -- or indeed any sunsetted MMO -- we'd be glad to feature them here. All you have to do is to email them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post it out here and give you the credit!%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: A final salute
While Tabula Rasa may have shut down all of the servers, this game is by no means forgotten. As many people head into their favorite gaming spaces this weekend to spend time with friends, at least one group will be missing their favorite MMO haunt. This salute to the end of Tabula Rasa comes to us from Mort, who sent along the follow brief note: [This is] a final salute to the fallen Earth from clan Kaka, [taken] at the Empire State Building. We have a few other final Tabula Rasa contributions, so we'll be adding those in the mix in the days to come - if you'd like to send yours and join the fun, feel free! If you're playing a game we haven't seen in a while - or likely won't see again - why not send in a screenshot? We like to see everything from rolling landscape screens to the intense heat of battle. All you have to do is email it to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the game it's from, and a quick note about what we're seeing. We'll post it out here and give you credit for sending it in!%Gallery-9798%
The Daily Grind: A farewell to Tabula Rasa
As this morning dawns across the world, the ranks of MMO communities are down by one. Tabula Rasa, started on the same day that Massively opened its doors, has closed down after one final, epic battle. As MMO players, just about all of us can relate as to how much it would suck to lose the game our community is in, thereby sending that community to the four corners of the gaming world. It's always a hard thing to see any MMO sunsetted. This morning, we wanted to give those players a chance to reflect on what they loved about Tabula Rasa - the community, the graphics, the story line, the dev interaction. Also, we'd love to hear what your plans are now; other AFS alumni may decide to join you in new gaming pastures! Will there be another MMO, or are you off to play games like Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead?
The Daily Grind: Should MMO companies offer severance packages?
As we're now aware, NCsoft has recently made the decision to shut down Tabula Rasa after the first of the year. As an attempt at goodwill - or more likely retaining at least some of the departing Tabula Rasa player-base - they've offered a 'severance package' of sorts to the players. This package includes two months of City of Heroes/City of Villains and two free months of Aion among other things. It's certainly causing some discussion here at the Massively virtual offices, to be sure. This morning we thought we'd come to you with the question we've been batting around behind the scenes recently. When a company decides to sunset an MMO, do you think it's a nice gesture for them to offer a package of free time in their other MMOs? Or do you think it seems more like an obvious grab, offering players of one sub-type of MMO (in this case an FPS sci-fi game) a completely different sub-type (super hero and fantasy)? If you're a Tabula Rasa player, will the offer they made entice you to at least try out City of Heroes or Aion, or have you decided to cut ties with NCsoft and head for other gaming pastures?
The Daily Grind: Would you help run your favorite MMOG?
What would you do if your favorite MMOG were suddenly sunsetted? That's a dilemma that's faced several different communities recently, with the closure of Mythos, Hellgate: London (only just saved from the fire, apparently) and Myst Online: URU Live. However, in the case of the last one, the project is being opened up so that users are able to create content moving forward, and that is what is expected to propel the project for the next while. So this morning we ask you -- if your favorite game were suddenly shut down, but re-opened so that you could create content on an unpaid basis to help it survive (and maybe even flourish) would you do it? Or would you just move on to the next game?
