In the MMO genre, an emulator is a playable, private version of an MMO run by players independent of a game studio. Both sunsetted and extant games are emulated with varying degrees of moral and technical support from the community and the studios; some develop their games better than the original and even attempt to charge fees or take donations. Despite the claims of emulator runners, private emulators are generally illegal under DMCA laws and violate the terms of service of most online games, but some studios and many players choose to look the other way.
emulator
The MOP Up: SWG rogue server Empire in Flames celebrates five years
Star Wars Galaxies: Empire in Flames rogue server celebrated its fifth anniversary this past week. "Since the doors opened on May 4th 2017, EiF...
Menma’s TERA emulator awaits those who are looking for a new home before the MMO’s PC shutdown
With news that TERA is going to be sunsetting on PC in June, one of the common questions asked by soon-to-be refugees is if...
Gravity is apparently cracking down on Ragnarok’s rogue server community
The Ragnarok Online rogue server community is in uproar this week as Ragnarok's Korean developer and publisher, Gravity Co., has filed at least one...
SWG Legends is spooling up double reward events for May the Fourth and Revenge of the Sixth
Two of the big celebratory dates for Star Wars fans - May 4th, aka May the Fourth, and May 6th, aka Revenge of the...
Disney has quashed another Club Penguin emulator, this time with arrests in the UK
Remember way back in 2017, when Disney shut down the long-running Club Penguin MMO in order to replace it with Club Penguin Island? And...
SWG Legends tours its new Bespin apartments, SWG Empire in Flames adds new playable races
It's time to check the news out of the emulator servers for Star Wars Galaxies! We start first with the biggie, Legends, which granted...
Warhammer Online: Return of Reckoning fixes key open RvR issues, continues to work on Land of the Dead
Warhammer Online rogue server Return of Reckoning busted out its first patch of 2022, bringing an Unforgiving Seas weekend warfront along with it.
Two small...
Warhammer Return of Reckoning plans new scenarios, new quests, and Necropolis of Zandr public tests
The Warhammer Online rogue server Return of Reckoning has lots of big plans in 2022. Fresh announcements from the operators of the emulator outline...
Wizardry Online makes a comeback as a rogue server
Those with good memories and perhaps a bit of personal experience might remember that for a hot minute back in 2013 and 2014, SOE...
Star Wars Galaxies’s SWGEmu opens its Finalizer test server today
Earlier this week we reported on news coming from the SWGEmu rogue servers of Star Wars Galaxies, which announced plans to open a new...
SWGemu rogue server group launches a new Star Wars Galaxies test server
What would be a better Life Day gift this season than to get a brand-new server from the good folks that brought you the...
LEGO Universe emu Darkflame Universe has released its server source code
In the middle of October we had to report the bittersweet news that the LEGO Universe emulator Darkflame Universe was going to shut down...
Asheron’s Call emulation is alive and well as its plugin framework just got a big update
Asheron's Call fans are in for a treat today! Readers will recall that the original and beloved Asheron's Call launched 22 years ago this...
WildStar’s Nexus Forever allows for basic combat, leveling, and housing
The next phase of WildStar resurrection project Nexus Forever is kicking in this week, with the team's leader warning testers that they may lose...
WildStar’s Nexus Forever rogue server project pushes new build, warns fans to ‘not expect a full-featured experience’
Just the other day, we were talking in the office about why WildStar hasn't seen a rogue server yet -- and wondering the only...
Microsoft’s Phil Spencer advocates for game preservation through emulators
You have probably noticed by now that we here at Massively OP are proponents of game emulators for MMOs that have been decommissioned. Rogue...
Open Perpetuum reworks the Gamma Islands area and outlines a three-phase release schedule
Open Perpetuum, the player-run and officially sanctioned emulator of the original sci-fi sandbox Perpetuum, is moving in to something of a major content release....
LEGO Universe emulator Darkflame Universe is going dark – but not before distributing its source code
Darkflame Universe, the player-run emulator of the long-shuttered MMO LEGO Universe, has been rather quiet for a while now. Readers will recall that the...
SWG Legends caught exploiters mass-deleting ‘thousands’ of game objects
If you got booted out of Star Wars Galaxies rogue server SWG Legends yesterday, know that a malicious exploit was the reason, and while...
Project 1999 players race to fight EverQuest bosses in a charity drive for a family
Regular readers will recall that we've previously reported on Project 1999, an officially sanctioned player-run private emulator for EverQuest, primarily regarding things like its...
