This made me cry. Something about the phrase “I’d give anything to sit at that old, chunky desktop again” hit me hard. I guess I just really miss the way things used to be.
I'm a returning wizard101 player and it's still active! Usually weekends are the busiest and the top 3 realms will be crowded or full :) They're working on Arc 1 revamp (which is wizard city to dragonspyre) I'm hoping this helps old players to return to their favorite childhood game. annnnd that maybe KL will eventually make wizard city and krok free. I believe with msp, usa is def the most active server however it's mainly on forums and forums has always been a shitshow lol
The ending of this made me cry. Not to get personal or nothing, but my childhood was pretty horrific, all things considered. Games (either free sites like classic runescape, poptropica, gaia online or console games, as the only place I could play mmos were after school because my home didn't have internet for the longest time) were kind of an escape from that for me as a kid. I can't reverse time, reclaim a childhood stolen from me. In some ways going to these dead sites is like visiting a grave of an old friend who helped you so much. There's melancholy in it, sadness. I can't regain my first desktop, an old chunky Windows ME without an internet card. It's corpse lines a dump somewhere alongside many other 90s-00s computers. But it, alongside all those virtual worlds, live on in memory. There's something beautiful in that, I think.
god i feel this. old games felt like a magical world and a warm hug and escape from rough childhood. i hope things are easier for you now than they were then stranger 🫂
I love this video, I am an active player on Wizard101, started playing in 5th grade, I'm 25 now! You were in the tutorial realm, which pretty much no one uses. The top busy realms are always popin if you ever wanna get on again! ❤😊
god this hit hard. i get in these nostalgic periods too where i go searching through my memories or any old account i can find for scraps of childhood and nostalgia. i have so many fond memories of mmos and especially with the commodification of social media... theres no real 'fun' sites to hang out with or meet new people on anymore. everything has become so mainstream and any fun game or etc is boxed into 'aesthetics' and for a purpose or a social media presence etc. i miss old internet so much as chaotic as it is... there are fanmade projects remaking moshi monsters, club penguin, and toontown though! toontown especially is pretty active i think.
this is why im so glad neopets still has such a dedicated niche fanbase (and why i feel annoyed when people complain about them adding new OPTIONAL paid features lol)
Hi Salem! I'm a little older than you, so I don't know some of these games. But some of these MMOs really bled into real life. One of my friends met her husband on World of Warcraft!
I played a really obscure MMO called Gopets that has literally nothing about it left other than a few videos ppl took when the servers were shut down. The owner of the game sold it to Zynga, the company that did farmville i think, and i’ve been holding on to the hope they’d bring it back some day
I loved Animal Jam as a kid, it’s too bad I can’t access my old account anymore due to that one massive data breach a few years ago. It was my top favourite virtual world, alongside ROBLOX if you can count that (though that’s more of a games platform). Trying to start over in AJ Classic or the Play Wild version just isn’t the same. On the topic of ROBLOX actually, there are so many old games from a decade ago I wish I could return to but can’t for a myriad of reasons - usually because either the game owners or ROBLOX took it down. Seeing those closed games, alongside old games that are still available but dead remind me a lot of dead virtual worlds. I’ll always cherish those dumb fun memories I had with other ROBLOX players in the myriad of roleplaying games I’ve played throughout the years though.
I used to play OurWorld hard, and the last time I logged in it was empty and sad like you showed in other mmos. They also dont have hardly as many games as they used to have. I gotta see if moshi monsters rewritten is still up tho. Club penguin rewritten got shut down because of disney sending a cease and desist letter to the people making it :((
I was never able to play those because that house couldn’t get internet… still can’t. We lived in the forest area in the rural outskirts of the city we lived in. We couldn’t even get pizza delivery out there. That road is dangerous for people who aren’t very familiar with it anyways. But now that childhood wonder is dead and playing those games won’t fill the void in my heart
Wizards ceo and staff talk bout new content via twitch nowadays they have 2 new packs of stuff releasing this year, a dungeon that was just release, some carnival themed thing coming soon, and they’re sister game who was previously abandoned is slowly being revived by them getting new content as well
Thank you so much for this video, Salem!!! You managed to put into words what I've been feeling for the past 2 years or so; that bittersweet feeling we can't quite name while trying to revisit the games I loved. I miss those times...
I think I'm significantly older than you, having been a teen in the late 90's, but the MMO sensation is the same. The games I played in the late 90's thru my time in college until the late 00's are all hard to stomach even when they are still functioning. Even the ones that are relatively populated (compared to other games of the era) still feel empty and lack the excitement they used to have. I go back sometimes, for the nostalgia, most recently installing a game called City of Heroes, but it's like there's nothing making me want to stay.
You were in a tutorial world for Wizard it’s not dead I go on maybe every couple of months bc I can’t always afford membership and let me say I see bout 100-200 players in each separate section of each world a day when I’m playing
I'm mad they deleted my original webkinz account. I had like 20 pets on there. I kept a few of the plushies that I consider rare but thats all I have now.
Logging into dead mmos is a happy-sad experience. A lot of us had great childhoods in those games, and even though everything is the same we can’t go back in time to relieve those experiences, they’re just memories now
This made me cry. Something about the phrase “I’d give anything to sit at that old, chunky desktop again” hit me hard. I guess I just really miss the way things used to be.
I'm a returning wizard101 player and it's still active! Usually weekends are the busiest and the top 3 realms will be crowded or full :) They're working on Arc 1 revamp (which is wizard city to dragonspyre) I'm hoping this helps old players to return to their favorite childhood game. annnnd that maybe KL will eventually make wizard city and krok free.
I believe with msp, usa is def the most active server however it's mainly on forums and forums has always been a shitshow lol
The ending of this made me cry. Not to get personal or nothing, but my childhood was pretty horrific, all things considered. Games (either free sites like classic runescape, poptropica, gaia online or console games, as the only place I could play mmos were after school because my home didn't have internet for the longest time) were kind of an escape from that for me as a kid.
I can't reverse time, reclaim a childhood stolen from me. In some ways going to these dead sites is like visiting a grave of an old friend who helped you so much. There's melancholy in it, sadness.
I can't regain my first desktop, an old chunky Windows ME without an internet card. It's corpse lines a dump somewhere alongside many other 90s-00s computers. But it, alongside all those virtual worlds, live on in memory. There's something beautiful in that, I think.
god i feel this. old games felt like a magical world and a warm hug and escape from rough childhood. i hope things are easier for you now than they were then stranger 🫂
I love this video, I am an active player on Wizard101, started playing in 5th grade, I'm 25 now! You were in the tutorial realm, which pretty much no one uses. The top busy realms are always popin if you ever wanna get on again! ❤😊
god this hit hard. i get in these nostalgic periods too where i go searching through my memories or any old account i can find for scraps of childhood and nostalgia. i have so many fond memories of mmos and especially with the commodification of social media... theres no real 'fun' sites to hang out with or meet new people on anymore. everything has become so mainstream and any fun game or etc is boxed into 'aesthetics' and for a purpose or a social media presence etc. i miss old internet so much as chaotic as it is...
there are fanmade projects remaking moshi monsters, club penguin, and toontown though! toontown especially is pretty active i think.
Random tip with wizard101 it's actually pretty active usually you just have to change realms through settings
Yes when I’m trying to finish Khrysalis I see bout several players plus new packs are coming soon
This video 100% did what was intended, gave me a pit in my stomach and a strange emotional emptiness. your delivery was immaculate
Wizard is still active the later worlds is where majority of the ppl are though
this is why im so glad neopets still has such a dedicated niche fanbase (and why i feel annoyed when people complain about them adding new OPTIONAL paid features lol)
this was beautiful
the style of your script is real fucken nice
Hi Salem! I'm a little older than you, so I don't know some of these games. But some of these MMOs really bled into real life. One of my friends met her husband on World of Warcraft!
I played a really obscure MMO called Gopets that has literally nothing about it left other than a few videos ppl took when the servers were shut down. The owner of the game sold it to Zynga, the company that did farmville i think, and i’ve been holding on to the hope they’d bring it back some day
I remember Gopets!
Yeah, I can't explain it what it is but this made me feel something. We didn't grow up on the same games but I feel what you're describing as well.
what a beautiful video essay, great vids as usual :)
this is genuinly my favorite video ever, thank you so much for the effort😊❤
I loved Animal Jam as a kid, it’s too bad I can’t access my old account anymore due to that one massive data breach a few years ago. It was my top favourite virtual world, alongside ROBLOX if you can count that (though that’s more of a games platform). Trying to start over in AJ Classic or the Play Wild version just isn’t the same.
On the topic of ROBLOX actually, there are so many old games from a decade ago I wish I could return to but can’t for a myriad of reasons - usually because either the game owners or ROBLOX took it down. Seeing those closed games, alongside old games that are still available but dead remind me a lot of dead virtual worlds. I’ll always cherish those dumb fun memories I had with other ROBLOX players in the myriad of roleplaying games I’ve played throughout the years though.
I used to play OurWorld hard, and the last time I logged in it was empty and sad like you showed in other mmos. They also dont have hardly as many games as they used to have. I gotta see if moshi monsters rewritten is still up tho. Club penguin rewritten got shut down because of disney sending a cease and desist letter to the people making it :((
I was never able to play those because that house couldn’t get internet… still can’t. We lived in the forest area in the rural outskirts of the city we lived in. We couldn’t even get pizza delivery out there. That road is dangerous for people who aren’t very familiar with it anyways. But now that childhood wonder is dead and playing those games won’t fill the void in my heart
Wizards ceo and staff talk bout new content via twitch nowadays they have 2 new packs of stuff releasing this year, a dungeon that was just release, some carnival themed thing coming soon, and they’re sister game who was previously abandoned is slowly being revived by them getting new content as well
Thank you so much for this video, Salem!!!
You managed to put into words what I've been feeling for the past 2 years or so; that bittersweet feeling we can't quite name while trying to revisit the games I loved. I miss those times...
I think I'm significantly older than you, having been a teen in the late 90's, but the MMO sensation is the same. The games I played in the late 90's thru my time in college until the late 00's are all hard to stomach even when they are still functioning. Even the ones that are relatively populated (compared to other games of the era) still feel empty and lack the excitement they used to have. I go back sometimes, for the nostalgia, most recently installing a game called City of Heroes, but it's like there's nothing making me want to stay.
as a 2005 kid most of the MMOs i played are gone club penguin, moshi monsters, bearville, bin weevils
Dudee!! I love LOVE LOOOOOVE this
By the end of the video I was sobbing 😭
My first webkinz was a raccoon named “Stipee” (Stripey)
You were in a tutorial world for Wizard it’s not dead I go on maybe every couple of months bc I can’t always afford membership and let me say I see bout 100-200 players in each separate section of each world a day when I’m playing
I'm mad they deleted my original webkinz account. I had like 20 pets on there. I kept a few of the plushies that I consider rare but thats all I have now.
Wizard 101 still has a lot of players, maybe changing realms will help?
I always wanted to play ToonTown as a kid but wasn’t allowed 😅
Great vid 👍
Nostalgia is powerful
Logging into dead mmos is a happy-sad experience. A lot of us had great childhoods in those games, and even though everything is the same we can’t go back in time to relieve those experiences, they’re just memories now
This reminds me of fishao, if only it was open :(
Salem they do have toontown someone brought it back. Same as club penguin. There name are toontown Rewritten and Club penguin Rewritten.
When I played toontown rewritten a few years ago there were a lot of players! I thought club penguin rewritten wasn’t working?
@@Moemoeourandiariesyeah most club penguin reboot projects are notorious for having bad mod teams / going under for asking for donations
Everytime I played wizard 101 I would get a virus 😓
wizard 101 still going strong!
ugh i used to fw pirates 101
Good shit
:'(