Imagine it, a day not far from today; the player-base practically non-existent besides a few people every now and then. That is if the servers are still active. A sobering thought is it not? I've started playing this work of art about a decade ago. I have had fun memories and experiences from this game, but as it is now. It merely is held either for a memorial or to make what little it can drag in. I understand the blight within Grey Havens, they simply may not want the power over their creation to be in another's hand, as that would mean it is not 'their' game anymore. It may be that they still have some contractual obligations we are not aware of, or it can be as simple as them not being pleased at their community, especially with us all nagging for source code all the time. A game such as this would not be a massive feat to recreate in these days, a simple video game editor can do such, but we the community are 'stuck', wanting the game's potential to be utilized. These forums are the same as shouting into an void, we all want to speak our piece concerning this game because we care so much for it. It is sad to me, that the announcements are just rehashed information. I don't even know if Cronus is even actually typing these announcements out or if its just a bot. I wonder what would have been made of this game if Three Rings never gave up its drive. A stark reality faces us that all online-service games eventually fade in the hands that made it. Such is why this game shall die, as its production and passion it limited to that of a small group compared to that of an entire albeit dwindling community. If the devs had a chance to remake this game, would it turn out any different then it has?
I fell in love with this game 9 years ago or so, and while life is drastically different now for me, I still find myself drawn to SK. I haven't played since then, aside from the odd "wonder if this game is still kickin" impulse very rarely. I only put in a little under 200 hours, and even in that time didn't accomplish much, but playing with the friends I did at the time was really lovely. While I haven't played since then, I had some of the tracks off the OST in my main playlist for years. I thought about the game today because of a viral tweet asking people what game they wish could come back to life. This is what came to mind (besides Rumbleverse, RIP). I've just reinstalled the game and I'm gonna see what it's like to come back, no expectations really, just wanna see. It looks like the game has about 200 players within the past 30 days according to steam charts, and I have no idea how many of those 200 are diehards or people just picking it up and putting it down right after.
Recently, fanmade servers for Monster Hunter Tri just went public. I was in the closed beta because once I heard the project was in the works, I just needed to be there. It was my first MMO (I think the term applies here) and my first MonHun and I poured a couple years of my life into it back in high school. The servers went offline in 2013 and the game was raised from the dead a decade later thanks to some dedicated fans. Seeing that happen will forever make me hopeful for any dying/dead game's future.