Massively writes:
"Sitting on my desk are copies of Earth and Beyond and Auto Assault. In fact, I've even got a CE box for Auto Assault (that thing cost me 80 bucks). Unfortunately, these games are just dust collectors now. I keep them to remind me of the possibility of sunset and how much it can suck. Even if you didn't play Tabula Rasa, there were thousands of people who did, and that's all that really matters
It seems like a silly thing to outright shutdown any MMO. When it happens, you always find yourself wondering, "Couldn't they have just cut down operating costs?" or something along those lines. I've had the chance to talk with various people on the development and publishing side of the industry and strangely enough most of them tell me that when an MMO gets turned off, it's usually because the publisher just lost interest in making it work."
Let nostalgia take you back to the lands you once roamed until they were cruelly taken offline and away from us. MMOGames list the top 10 MMOs that died and left us with a hole in our hearts.
I agree when it comes to The Sims Online. That game was really fun and nothing has even come close to it. I still crave a new Sims with online multiplayer. Blows my mind they haven't done anything like that since The Sims Online or even The Sims Bustin' Out on PS2.
GamesRadar - You probably think online worlds shut down because no one's playing. Actually that's rarely true. Often, when servers finally wink out, there's a thriving community patiently waiting for the end and making sad faces at the sky. Most recently it was PlayStation Home, a game that no-one apparently played but which still managed to have millions of inhabitants waiting out their own personal apocalypse on the last day.
MMO-Play gathered a list of the most disappointing MMO's in the history of gaming.
Wow killed all of them.
Yet another thing I don't care for with MMOs as they are now. The power is not with the gamer. If she shuts down, you have only a set of expensive frisbees left over. I'm definitely no saavy programmer so I don't know the plausibility, but a good solution for me would be to offer some way to continue my game offline or with a private server if the monetization fails.