Titan Network
Community => Other Games => Topic started by: Xieveral on August 22, 2013, 09:58:54 PM
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After 10 years, Disney is pulling the plug on Toontown. This certainly doesn't bode well for our Disney TFHM efforts.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-21/disney-to-shutter-10-year-old-toontown-multiplayer-game.html (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-21/disney-to-shutter-10-year-old-toontown-multiplayer-game.html)
I never played Toontown but we know that feeling of loss all too well.
At least one community (http://www.toontowncentral.com/forums/goodbye-toontown/344355-im-going-try-convince-jesse-schell-purchase-toontown-wish-me-luck.html) is trying to save it. Best of luck to them, they're fighting a bigger monster than NCSoft.
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I too wish them luck, I think we all know what it is like to have a game taken away :(
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I hope they succeed. I have no experience with the game, but I know some people that used to play it.
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Toontown Players, /em holdtorch.
we know how you feel.
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"The changes leave the $7.95-a-month Club Penguin as the only so-called virtual world operated by Disney. The site, acquired in 2007, is the largest of its kind, according to the company, which is asking players to move there."
This sounds almost familiar...
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Here's hoping they can save their game. As someone who's been through a lot of closures myself, I feel for 'em.
Ever notice it's the games that don't neatly fit the swords-and-sorcery cookie-cutter molds that tend to get the axe first? AGES Online (alien world sci-fi lasers & magic MMOFPS, one of the first of its kind), Earth and Beyond (spaceship sci-fi), Auto Assault (car-based post-apocalyptic), Tabula Rasa (alien world guns-and-magic), Exteel (giant robot arena combat), CoH (superheroes), Dungeon Fighter Online (swords and sorcery, but a side-scrolling beat-'em-up), and now Toontown (classic cartoons).
I hardly hear anything about cookie-cutter WoW clones and Everquest clones getting closed down.
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I hardly hear anything about cookie-cutter WoW clones and Everquest clones getting closed down.
I can't help but think that's because there are so many of them that really don't hold up to what they are copying that it never makes the news when they shut down.
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It seems that Disney is sun setting Pirates of the Caribbean online too:
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/08/20/disneys-pirates-of-the-caribbean-online-sunsetting-in-september/
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It seems that Disney is sun setting Pirates of the Caribbean online too:
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/08/20/disneys-pirates-of-the-caribbean-online-sunsetting-in-september/ (http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/08/20/disneys-pirates-of-the-caribbean-online-sunsetting-in-september/)
Yep, that was actually in the OP's Bloomberg article too, along with Disney Fairies Pixie Hollow getting the axe. As someone earlier stated, it definitely doesn't suggest good things for the pitch to Disney. It's also surprising to see 1 month's notice. Not surprising is to see Disney Interactive's entire unit listed as taking a loss of 216m, without a breakout by games.
Some questions, not all that can be answered, but food for thought:
Could the game support themselves in a maintenance mode?
Do those communities have something to say?
Do we, the CoH community, have something to say?
Do we, the community that is upset at longtime games shutting down, have something to say?
There was a lot of visibility and discussion when CoH went down -- perhaps because many people throughout the gaming community (including Jack) hold/held a special place in their hearts for it. Or because of its particular circumstances of appearing to be healthy. Does Toontown deserve this? What happens if/when Dark Age of Camelot or Everquest are sunset? Will it be a quiet passing?
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I actually had an account on Toontown Online, and when CoH's closing was announced, I spent a few days playing it. It wasn't anything like CoH, of course - which helped, a little bit, because there was a day or two right after the announcement when I didn't even want to think about CoH - but I still considered subscribing to it.
Maybe I'll head over there and play it a bit, one last time, since it looks like they're making everyone subscribers for the last month.
This just bums me out even more.
Edited to add: ... I hope this doesn't bode ill for Playdom games, particularly Marvel Avengers Alliance. For all that it's a "casual" Facebook game, that's the only game I'm seriously into right now.
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Well guess there is lot of raving mad people that wont give Disney a single dime anymore for ever and ever now. :P.
But more seriously, dang that sucks but as said in the past, shutting down games is not an NCSOFT exclusive act. It can happen to anyone anytime any place any company and when the owner don't feel it's worth it.
Risk-
Playing MMO- Playing stock market
Playing console/stand alone games-Savings account
Board games-Money under the pillow.
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Still on my first cuppa, but didn't Disney announce a while ago that they were getting out of directly developing video games? I thought that was part of closing LucasArts.
Anyway, I had a Pirates account, but I think I only ever logged into it when I created it. I couldn't even tell you how many years ago that was. Toontown looked interesting, and I feel for these people, having been through the same thing, here. I'm all for lending our voices, if that's the way we want to go, but I'm saving my wallet for the CoH/PlanZ efforts. :)
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Well guess there is lot of raving mad people that wont give Disney a single dime anymore for ever and ever now. :P.
That... could be a challenge considering how many things The Mouse has his little white gloves in.
List of assets owned by Disney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Disney)
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That... could be a challenge considering how many things The Mouse has his little white gloves in.
List of assets owned by Disney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Disney)
Of course but it would be interesting to see people try and see if they infact actually and willingly do that. I mean it was enough when one company shutdown a game to warrant "not giving them another dime." and the same feeling for companies that do business with them as the feeling for companies that still do business with the other other company. I figured the same rules apply for The Mouse. And should The Mouse be required to give up their rights and holdings to Toontown as expected with the other company? And is it considered an "all of a sudden" shutdown given that they announced it less than three months prior to shutdown? I think a about one month before shutdown. Thus is Disney now an "evil company" or rather "more evil" than it was in prior thought?
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/hug Toontown community
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Well, not that it did CoH any good, but there's a petition (http://www.change.org/petitions/bob-iger-lisa-peabody-mihai-pohontu-john-pleasants-disney-keep-toontown-open-facing-the-real-cogs).
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Well, not that it did CoH any good, but there's a petition (http://www.change.org/petitions/bob-iger-lisa-peabody-mihai-pohontu-john-pleasants-disney-keep-toontown-open-facing-the-real-cogs).
De ja vue with the petition and comments and other things.
And according to the iCNN report, they had 100,000s (plural) of players in that game at shut down notice. If Soft got flack for shutting down a game with 60,000-80,000 players, the flack for disney should be even higher.
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But more seriously, dang that sucks but as said in the past, shutting down games is not an NCSOFT exclusive act. It can happen to anyone anytime any place any company and when the owner don't feel it's worth it.
This seems eerily like when you're faced with your mortality. I mean I guess it is a bit of a stretch, but I never thought City was going to end the same way a lot of kids think their life isn't going to end. o__o and I guess the same thing could be said about it: enjoy your MMO while it lasts.
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This seems eerily like when you're faced with your mortality. I mean I guess it is a bit of a stretch, but I never thought City was going to end the same way a lot of kids think their life isn't going to end. o__o and I guess the same thing could be said about it: enjoy your MMO while it lasts.
Yup.
That is how I live life, like that day is my last. Even if I kick bucket tomorrow, I can sit back in the afterlife and go, "yeah, I did that." Instead of "ZOMG! I didn't do everything I wanted because I waited!"
Always enjoy MMOs like it's going to close tomorrow because there is a chance that it might.
But then again I have different view of death. To some it's worse possible thing that can happen and something to be feared greatly. To me, it's a part of life. When my number is up, I'm not resisting it and don't desire to live forever nor over stay my stay. Until then, every day may as well be my last. Might get blasted due to mistaken identity while checking the mail. Never know, but it don't keep me locked indoors.
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It maybe because the trend for youth games is in the mobile space and not the PC space. You want a game the kids can take with them on a tablet or phone so grandma and grandpa don't need to install grandchildren games on their PC. So you need a MMO platform that's lightweight enough to run on a mobile device and I think something like Club Penguin could have a client (unless it's browser based, don't know) that'll run on those devices.
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http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1024578?hpt=hp_bn1
CNN iReport - Disney's shutting down more than just Toontown.
(Link originally posted by FourSquare in the wrong forum.)
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I'm sorry but mobile games are never going to be as big as they think they will be. You can only do so much with a tablet or droid before it becomes tiresome to your hands. Not to mention lacking the precision and control that a keyboard and mouse has.
It's just like the craziness they have been trying to do with consoles trying to replace pcs. It will never happen as consoles and pcs are two separate forms of gaming entertainment and attract different types of customers. So if you ask me they are crazy trying to go full on mobile at the expense of existing customers.
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I'm sorry but mobile games are never going to be as big as they think they will be. You can only do so much with a tablet or droid before it becomes tiresome to your hands. Not to mention lacking the precision and control that a keyboard and mouse has.
It's just like the craziness they have been trying to do with consoles trying to replace pcs. It will never happen as consoles and pcs are two separate forms of gaming entertainment and attract different types of customers. So if you ask me they are crazy trying to go full on mobile at the expense of existing customers.
Unless you are a child. Kids take to playing on tablets and phones remarkably well. And laying on the floor/bed/furniture with a tablet, whether engrossed in reading or a game is a real thing that needs to be embraced. Imagine games of old like the Backyard sport series translated to tablet. Sure it's not going to be a platform for "serious" 3D gaming but something like The Sims, racing or even turn based strategy games could work well on the tablet platform.
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Club Penguin is browser-based -- at least it was when my kids played it, which was a few years ago at this point.
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I have a friend who played Toontown as a kid, and he said that it actually makes him sad to have a game he grew up with going away. My response was probably a bit selfish, but I could first only think to say, "now somebody knows how I feel." I hope someone is able to save their community. At this point we need a website dedicated to housing the communities of closed MMOs.
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I'm sorry but mobile games are never going to be as big as they think they will be. You can only do so much with a tablet or droid before it becomes tiresome to your hands. Not to mention lacking the precision and control that a keyboard and mouse has.
It's just like the craziness they have been trying to do with consoles trying to replace pcs. It will never happen as consoles and pcs are two separate forms of gaming entertainment and attract different types of customers. So if you ask me they are crazy trying to go full on mobile at the expense of existing customers.
this is exactly what large scale houses like Disney want. they want a game you will log into and play for five minutes. because the less thought you put into it, the less content they have to develop for it. It's all about the glorious return on investment, and the less they have to invest, the more returns they get. Also, the more you think about a game, the more apt you are to find is flaws and demand they be fixed, the more apt you are to get attached to it and be a pain when it closes, etc....
Modern gaming is not about pleasing the customer, it's about keeping them mindlessly clicking a button while the profits roll in.
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this is exactly what large scale houses like Disney want. they want a game you will log into and play for five minutes. because the less thought you put into it, the less content they have to develop for it. It's all about the glorious return on investment, and the less they have to invest, the more returns they get. Also, the more you think about a game, the more apt you are to find is flaws and demand they be fixed, the more apt you are to get attached to it and be a pain when it closes, etc....
Modern gaming is not about pleasing the customer, it's about keeping them mindlessly clicking a button while the profits roll in.
yeah look how crazy popular candy crush is. It probably didn't take them $100 to make that game.
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The one that they're leaving up, Club Penguin, isn't even really a game, it's an animated chat room (with some minigames tacked on). They barely have to create content at all, compared to MMO standards. It's basically Second Life with penguins and lots of censorship. Plus it's browser-based, so they don't have to create or update a client.
I'm actually more saddened by TT's going down than I thought I was, and I barely played it. I think it was seeing the reaction of all the players on the TT Central fan forum (as well as the assurance by that board owner that, even after the game goes down, the fansite would remain). It was all hauntingly, painfully familiar.
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Club Penguin is browser-based -- at least it was when my kids played it, which was a few years ago at this point.
In which case it's already tablet/phone ready unless there's a deny mobile platform or specialized plugin needed to run beyond Flash (sorry iPhone/iPad).
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yeah look how crazy popular candy crush is. It probably didn't take them $100 to make that game.
Truth.
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Very saddening. Me? I was reading through the CNN article comments and thinking, "Y'know, you could just find/replace and swap out 'Toontown' for 'City of Heroes.'" Like others have said, this is really dishearteningly familiar. :(
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this is exactly what large scale houses like Disney want. they want a game you will log into and play for five minutes. because the less thought you put into it, the less content they have to develop for it. It's all about the glorious return on investment, and the less they have to invest, the more returns they get. Also, the more you think about a game, the more apt you are to find is flaws and demand they be fixed, the more apt you are to get attached to it and be a pain when it closes, etc....
Modern gaming is not about pleasing the customer, it's about keeping them mindlessly clicking a button while the profits roll in.
Look at Disney Infinity for a peek at brilliance:
1. Physical toys to admire that are connected to electronic avatars
2. Plays on multiple platforms, with accounts linked so you can play on the console and on the go with other devices.
3. Limited edition purchasable add-ons (powerups)
4. Toybox game/story builder that you can share with other people.
Target shelves were practically empty yesterday.
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Very saddening. Me? I was reading through the CNN article comments and thinking, "Y'know, you could just find/replace and swap out 'Toontown' for 'City of Heroes.'" Like others have said, this is really dishearteningly familiar. :(
Consider this also -- people want City of Heroes to be released to the wild, but many don't "get" the idea that there's an intellectual license and copyright that Ncsoft would want to protect. So, would you propose releasing Toontown or Pirates of the Caribbean to the public? Of course, Disney would want to continue to guard those brands....
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Consider this also -- people want City of Heroes to be released to the wild, but many don't "get" the idea that there's an intellectual license and copyright that Ncsoft would want to protect. So, would you propose releasing Toontown or Pirates of the Caribbean to the public? Of course, Disney would want to continue to guard those brands....
That aspect is not exactly analogous. Disney is probably planning to use characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and even Cap'n Jack Sparrow in future projects. That's rather different from what NCSoft seems to have planned for the likes of the Freedom Phalanx and Arachnos (which is nothing at all).
But even then, if Disney hasn't done anything else with the whole "Toons vs. Cogs" concept by now, why would they wait until the game was shut down to start?
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That aspect is not exactly analogous. Disney is probably planning to use characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and even Cap'n Jack Sparrow in future projects. That's rather different from what NCSoft seems to have planned for the likes of the Freedom Phalanx and Arachnos (which is nothing at all).
But even then, if Disney hasn't done anything else with the whole "Toons vs. Cogs" concept by now, why would they wait until the game was shut down to start?
well to be fair, they didn't indicate either way what their plan was to us at least. Thus it could be either they have a plan or they don't have a plan but they haven't given any or enough information to say definitely on either one. It's only been a year. Even Disney sometimes wait a decade or two before releasing plans on using a piece of "property" they have and sometimes don't make announcements of their plans until it's time for marketing.
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Well guess there is lot of raving mad people that wont give Disney a single dime anymore for ever and ever now. :P.
But more seriously, dang that sucks but as said in the past, shutting down games is not an NCSOFT exclusive act. It can happen to anyone anytime any place any company and when the owner don't feel it's worth it.
Risk-
Playing MMO- Playing stock market
Playing console/stand alone games-Savings account
Board games-Money under the pillow.
Good thing I didn't play any of those. Those players getting a month to tie up loose ends. Makes me think the world is going to be playing Candy Crusher.
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Move coverage from CNN over the weekend.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/23/tech/gaming-gadgets/closing-toontown/index.html
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Not quite as bummed about this as I was when I was with the closing of CoH, but still not happy about this for nostalgic reasons. Played Toontown and PotC with my girlfriend shortly after we got together -- she was working for Disney at the time, and strongly "encouraged" me to sign up, and kindly comped my accounts so that I could -- so it has some nostalgic value for me. I haven't been on either since before CoH closed, though, and neither really grabbed me much, since they were mostly aimed at kids (Toontown) and teens (PotC). Still, they were fun diversions, and nice places to hang out online and get to know my girlfriend and her nieces better early on. I'll have to update the clients and pop on there once more for old time's sake.
That leaves my only active MMO accounts as GuildWars -- the first one, and, no, I haven't played it since the closing announcement -- and a reverse-engineered clone of a dead MMO. (No, not CoH-based, but it does give me hope that maybe something similar can happen for it.) The others I've been on that are still running -- EVE Online and Everquest 1 & 2 -- the accounts have been deactivated, so they would seem to be safe. But that doesn't bode well for GuildWars. Auto Assault, Everquest Online Adventures, City of Heroes/Villains, and now Toontown and Pirates of the Caribbean. One more, and I'm pretty sure that I'll have earned my "MMO Killer" badge.
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(Link originally posted by FourSquare in the wrong forum.)
"FourSquare" ??? Really?
/me mutters "Damn kids these days", and goes back to raking the lawn...
Regards,
4
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Auto Assault, Everquest Online Adventures, City of Heroes/Villains, and now Toontown and Pirates of the Caribbean. One more, and I'm pretty sure that I'll have earned my "MMO Killer" badge.
I think NCSoft has the IP rights for that badge, and they refuse to give it up.