Generally used to describe MMOs from before World of Warcraft’s launch in 2004, though sometimes shortened to describe just the first few MMOs launched prior to 2000.
classic mmos
The Game Archaeologist: A look back at proto-MMOs through the 1980s
Today I want to try something a little different as we look at MMORPG history. Rather than focus in on a single title or...
The Game Archaeologist: World of Warcraft in the 1990s
MMORPGs don't pop out of nowhere, ex nihilo, to suddenly be enjoyed by players across the globe. Good ones take several years, dozens of...
The Game Archaeologist: Runes of Magic, an MMO that made millions disappear
In more ways than one, the year 2004 was a pivotal one for the MMORPG community. Even as games like City of Heroes, EverQuest...
The Game Archaeologist: Dragon Ball Online, the MMO that never made it to the west
It was back in 1986 that Toei Animation, a Japanese company, brought a new series called Dragon Ball into the world. The initial run...
The Game Archaeologist’s ultimate MMO archives v7.0
Once again we put a wrap on another year of MMORPG news, opinions, and -- most pertinent to this column -- history. In a...
The Game Archaeologist: The Sims Bustin’ Out, the online Sims game nobody remembers
Many gamers who complete that Venn diagram of being fans of both MMOs and The Sims no doubt will be familiar with the tragically...
The Game Archaeologist: Firefall, an MMO tragedy about more than just a bus
Back when I first started writing for Massively and was energetic enough to go on trips to trade shows, I hit up a PAX...
The Game Archaeologist: Gameline, the Atari 2600 digital storefront
Modern MMO gamers are blessed with plenty of conveniences that we take for granted. One such convenience is the ability to simply download any...
The Game Archaeologist: EverQuest Mac, the O.G. classic server
In 2003, Sony Online Entertainment tried an experiment to reach out to the (then) small-but-growing community of Mac users. The company released EverQuest Macintosh...
The Realm Online is shuttering its rebooted version at the end of June
Five years ago, a group of enterprising fans banded together to assemble and run an improved version of the classic MMORPG The Realm Online...
The Game Archaeologist: Coca-Cola’s crazy virtual hangout
Part of the sheer joy and fun of the early online world of the late '90s and early 2000s was the experimentation that took...
Preserving Worlds is an indie TV docuseries about preserving classic MMORPGs
So here's something fun we just learned about thanks to a friendly tweet: Preserving Worlds is a 2021 indie TV show on Means TV...
The Game Archaeologist: Pirates of the Caribbean Online
In 1967, Disneyland opened one of its most iconic attractions: a dark boat ride called Pirates of the Caribbean. A large fandom surrounding the...
Grand Fantasia and Aura Kingdom both make a bumpy return under X-LEGEND’s stewardship
Before we leap into this story, a quick recap: Both Aura Kingdom and Grand Fantasia were in a state of limbo when Gamigo elected...
The Game Archaeologist: PlaneShift, the poster child of open-source MMOs
As the character creation screen fades out, a dark vista fades into being. The fledgling adventurer looks around at dim shapes and sinister movements...
The Game Archaeologist’s ultimate MMO archives v6.0
And that's a wrap on this year in history! While everyone says farewell to 2022, here at TGA we're always looking way back at...
The Game Archaeologist: Wizardry Online, the short-lived permadeath MMO
While the Wizardry series may not have the cultural cache that Ultima or Final Fantasy ended up with, nevertheless the dungeon crawling RPG series...
Argentum Online Forever is a revived classic Argentinian MMO looking to expand its global outreach
Who here would like to check out an MMORPG from Argentina? Then your very specific interests are being served by publisher/developer NoseTu Inc Games...
The Game Archaeologist: The radically different design of early EverQuest II
Sometimes it's all about timing -- both good and bad -- when it comes to MMORPG releases. EverQuest II may go down as the...
The Game Archaeologist: Dark Ages, the weird lovechild of Celtic lore and Lovecraftian legends
While the online world was fascinated by "the Big Three" Western MMOs in 1999 -- that would be EverQuest, Ultima Online, and Asheron's Call...
