One of the oldest MMORPGs, The Realm Online, is slated to have its active fan-run server go offline at the end of the month. It's the grandfather of MMOs like EverQuest and World of Warcraft, having been around for the last 27 years. While the MMO will still technically be playable thanks to a legacy server run by Norseman games, the MMO itself won't have any of the updates, content, and more that the recent Realm Online has run by Realm Worlds LLC.
MMO servers shutting down is nothing new. It's why when MMOs reach milestones such as five, ten or even twenty years in existence, they are something to celebrate. With some MMOs being shuttered in just a few short years, to see something like The Realm Online still going in 2023 is inspiring.
For some, this was their first MMO, though The Realm Online was closer to a graphical MUD than what we'd consider a MMO nowadays. But it paved the way for the MMOs we love today in a big way as an inspiration for some of the genre's early heavy hitters.
It got me thinking as I wrote up the news last week: when was the last time I logged into the MMO that got me into the genre? How many of us are still playing that first MMO that helped us fall in love with this unique space in gaming?
For me, technically, my first MMO was RuneScape, as I imagine it was for many people my age. I was in 10th grade and my parents just could not afford subs (or a capable PC) to play EverQuest. However, my friends on the Air Force Base I grew up on all got into RuneScape around the same time because it was free (and Las Vegas summers are oppressively hot, in case you weren't aware).
I played it, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but honestly it wasn't something I was completely taken with at the time. It was fun to play with friends, but I'd rather have played Call of Duty or destroyed my brothers in Soul Calibur II or Super Smash Bros. Melee at the time. I would log onto RuneScape when my buddies were there, but I really wasn't playing it otherwise.
The first MMO I fell in love with (and this will be a shocker) is The Lord of the Rings Online. It was the first time I felt it was worth the monthly sub to play. I wanted to romp through Middle-earth, exploring the Shire and all the locations I had grown to love after reading the books. And it's an MMO I still play today (I spent a large amount of time reorganizing the decorations in my Belfalas house on Sunday, spending waaay too many LotRO points in the process).
It's the MMO that finally made me fall in love with the genre, and as a result, it'll always be installed on my PC.
But I also know many of us feel MMO Burnout. I do a ton, especially after grinding one for an article idea or review. And the march of time also sees us move on. Better, newer, and more interesting games release. I still play LotRO, but not nearly as often as I used to - there were years when it was the only game I played. Those days are gone, however.
So what was your first MMO, and do you still play it? For me, it's been a long while since I logged into RuneScape, my technical first MMO. I still have my account I made back in 2001, Isstvan is still somewhere in Gielinor, waiting to be picked up again. Maybe I'll install Old School RuneScape on my phone to relive those glory days.
What about you? Let us know in the comments below.
