When last we looked in on Legends of Aria, it was fading fast into unfortunate obscurity. The Kickstarted MMORPG – originally known as Shards Online – had been one of many crowdfunded throwback MMOs from the mid-aughts, but it struggled to find its voice and its playerbase once it actually launched. Developer Citadel Studios eventually sold the studio and the game off to a blockchain/crypto company back in 2021, which has been a dumpster fire and a half, which I won’t go into here because MOP’s Chris recapped it in great detail less than a year ago and updated in November.
The important takeaway for actual MMORPG fans and Kickstarter backers is that throughout the game’s “Britaria” crypto era, a sliver of the original MMORPG lived on through a single official legacy server called Ethereal Moon (now dead) and several player-driven community servers. And now, that sliver is blossoming into something much more than a tiny forgotten server tucked into a crypto company’s Discord, as apparently, Citadel’s Derek Brinkmann is bringing back the game as a proper classic game with a launch on Steam. Here’s the memo from the newsletter blast:
“We are excited to announce Legends of Aria Classic – a return to our pre-Steam Early Access ruleset of 2019. Early 2019 was a magical time for Legends of Aria. Players had created some truly amazing player towns and houses, finely crafted with furniture and decorated with the spoils of adventure. We had a balanced flow of red vs. blue (and orange), which played out across our world. We watched large dungeon raids and faction battles explode into meteoric chaos. These are the experiences we wish to return to and faithfully build upon with Legends of Aria Classic. We are reintroducing the fun and scalable systems such as Karma and Factions and will be tweaking and expanding them as we resume development.”
According to the email, the Steam launch is May 9th, and you won’t need to buy the game, though it does have a sub: Citadel says it will “will be freely available for 30 days, then requiring a monthly subscription” to “ensure ongoing support and development as [the devs] return to build upon this beloved foundation.” According to info in the Discord, that’s 30 days from launch for everyone, not 30 days from the first time you log in. After the free month, new players will be granted seven days to trial before being asked to sub, which will be a modest $9.99 per month.
Do note, Brinkmann says Classic is a “fresh start” server, so your old characters and acquisitions won’t transfer over. “Everyone here gets a clean slate with regards to LoA,” he says. “Hopefully we can all have fun together again and leave the drama at the door.”
