My opinion on what brought Toontown down.

As you already probably know if you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, Toontown is an incredibly sensitive subject with me.
I had played the game since its release, when I was about 9 years old.
My original toon was Miss Binky Octomuffin, a tall, electric green rabbit wearing a purple floral top and skirt. She was later deleted due to my obsession with cats, and remade.
My main Toon became renamed Miss Binky Octofish, and she was a tall, sand-colored cat. Her outfit has been through many iterations throughout the years. I have never held onto a character for even a fraction of the amount of times Miss Binky Octofish has been around.
My other primary character was a short black cat wearing a white top and skirt named Nobody. She is another long-existing character of mine.
I played before you could decorate your house, before fishing was actually a thing that you did to earn jellybeans, before racing, golfing, Cog HQs, accessories, doodles, black cats, the Silly Meter, moving fire hydrants and such on the streets, being able to type to other people. I played when they still sent out newsletters and collectible cards through the mail. I'm pretty sure I have a complete collection of the cards and newsletters.

Toontown was shut down on November 19th, 2013.

I think that part of the reason why it all ended up going wrong was because of open-chat: the ability to type to anyone.

Previously, we had to choose from a list of pre-defined phrases. You could buy new phrases and emotions. If you knew someone in real life, you could trade secret-friend codes, and then you could type them. No one else would be able to see what you typed, except for your secret friends. People found ways to trade codes with people they didn't know, but for the most part, it was a good system.

Has anyone ever heard of the experiment in which they placed a 14 year old boy in front of a game concept where they had a limited dictionary, but you could still type to each other? As in, the same system as is now used in many "child friendly" games?
Within a few minutes, the boy had come up with the phrase "I want to stick my long-necked Giraffe up your fluffy white bunny." (http://habitatchronicles.com/2007/03/the-untold-history-of-toontowns-speedchat-or-blockchattm-from-disney-finally-arrives/)

I still don't understand how, after that experiment, anyone thought that "Hey! Maybe we should let people type to each other using a limited-dictionary! Nothing could go wrong!"

Yeah, things did go wrong. Of course, if you give people the chance to talk on a game, they are going to talk. What used to be a perfectly "child friendly" game, turned into a chatroom where people talked about boyfriends/girlfriends, made rather obvious innuendo, and bypassed the filters in order to swear or tell people their age.

Were there some benefits with free-chat? Yes. It made battles such as the VP, CFO, CJ, and CEO much more streamlined, as you could now direct people in a simpler manner. Even bypassing the filter in order to say numbers had its benefits with directing people as to what cog they should hit. But, honestly, that's where the benefits ended.

Did people make friends? Yes. Were there plenty of nice people on the game who didn't abuse the chat system? Of course! But you didn't really notice them. You noticed the people that were abusing it. If I were a mother and my young child wanted to play this game, I would have said no after running around for a bit. It was hailed as "child friendly" even after free-chat went into place. When in actuality it had become a cesspool of worse behavior than I usually see on the other MMOs I play.

I know that the chat-system had its good points. My grandmother made a lot of friends through Toontown, that she still talks to. But for the most part, that wasn't the case, as far as I saw.

Today, I finally got into Toontown Rewritten, and I was disappointed. I was so happy to have gotten in, and I was so happy to be back in the game. It was all just as I remembered it, save for a few things that hadn't yet been implemented. I was disappointed that free-chat was still in the game. I knew it would be, but part of me was really, really disappointed.

I re-created Miss Binky Octofish and went into the game, only to witness things that I didn't really want to see. People getting angry because you defeated a cog that they needed (when they were way down the road where you couldn't see them, and they didn't ask you to wait or anything). People calling non-cats ugly. A whole lot of people getting upset with each other. I was left there thinking "Doesn't anyone here appreciate the fact that we are able to play this game again?" It certainly didn't seem like it. I didn't end up playing for my full three hours because it just started feeling sick to my stomach a bit.

Maybe I am just over-sensitive. Or, rather, I know I'm over-sensitive. It's kind of a thing with me. If someone's upset in the next room my stomach starts churning, even if it has literally nothing to do with me. I don't even have to know the person and I still get sick. I'm like allergic to negative emotions or something, I swear :P

This game is very much beloved by me, and I don't want to see it shut down again. I'm just worried that with free-chat still in place, the game will have harassment issues and will be forced down.

And it's over

Toontown has shut down.
I'm still very upset that I did not get to see it happen, but maybe it saved me some tears to not have to be there myself?

Why Now?!

This is an error that many Toontown players are encountering at the moment. Many are unable to log in. It does not appear to be affecting people who are already logged in, however. So, if you are playing this game and you are already in the game, please, do your best to not log off, or you will not be able to get back on at this time!

And please, if you are still able to play, fight the cogs for those of us who cannot. There is the possibility that the rest of us may not be able to log on again, so please, play until the final moments for those of us who may not be able to!

Well, this is it.

Last day of Toontown.
I'm not crying yet, but I know I will be in a few hours.


Miss Binky Octofish

I took my screenshots yesterday. Particularly of my Toons.

Miss Binky Octomuffin is only level 15. I made her just this morning. She looks identical and has the same name as my very first Toon.
Rococo and Cardboard Viking are still in Toontown Central.
Thyme just reached Donald's Dock yesterday.
Nobody is in Minnie's Melodyland.
Miss Binky Octofish is in Donald's Dreamland.

Miss Binky Octomuffin

Miss Binky Octofish is, by far, the eldest. I've had her since 2004-ish. I remember that when I was little we went to a Not So Scary Halloween Party in Walt Disney World, and I dressed up as her. I was so happy to dress up as her, and I mastered how to do the little dance thing and the wave that Toons do.

And goodbye to my Doodles as well: Viking, Euphoria, Fungus, Alchemy, Fable, and Duchess.

Also, sorry, I have absolutely no idea what's going on with the formatting of the pictures on this page.

Rococo

Nobody

Thyme

Cardboard Viking



Trying to get my last Toontown playing done

So, this is it. In just 3 days, the game I grew up with will be gone. All the characters I've had for 10 years will be gone. The place where I was able to play with my best friend will be gone.

I have to prepare to say goodbye to Miss Binky Octofish, Nobody, Cardboard Viking, Thyme, and Rococo. As well as to all the other toons that I had in the past. To all my toon friends. To the NPCs that I'm so used to seeing.  To my doodles, Euphoria, Fungus, and Viking. To the highest Laff I've ever achieved: 79.

I still remember when I went to a Not So Scary Halloween Party in Disney World. I went as my character, Miss Binky Octofish.

I have been playing this game since I was 8. I am 18 now. I have literally grown up with this game. It is very, very difficult to see it go.

My first toon was an electric green rabbit, long ears, tall body and legs, wearing a purple floral top and skirt. Her name was Miss Binky Octomuffin. She got to 50 or so Laff. I remember very well how proud I felt when I got my Anvil.

My main since, I would say 2004, is Miss Binky Octofish. Same build as Octomuffin, but a tan cat instead. Her first outfit was a blue striped top and skirt. She is dropless.

Sorry for the lack of posts, I'm just a mess this week, I'm afraid. It didn't feel real until yesterday, when I realized it was coming up this week. What's going to happen at the last moment of the game? Will the screen just go black? Will we get some sort of closure? Will my computer just give me an error saying that "Toontown.exe has encountered an error and needs to close."? Will we be able to leave knowing that the Toons have defeated the Cogs?

Tomorrow and Wednesday, I'll probably put up pictures of my Toons and other things that I've been proud of.

Having Rufus Wainwright's "Hallelujah" stuck in my head is not helping matters.

Help Try and Save Toontown!

As you may have seen in my last post, Toontown Online is set to be shut down on September 19th, 2013.

This game, for me, has been around for more than half of my life. I have essentially grown up with it, and I still play it even now. I began playing when I was in second grade, and I graduated highschool this year, still playing this game. I have always logged in at least once a month, if not more, and have had a membership consistently for the past ten years. My entire family has at one point played this game, with some members of my family still playing it actively. It is the game that got me started in online gaming. Without this game, I would not be playing online games now, and, by extension, this site would not exist.

This game has had an immense effect on many people. Children, parents, and grandparents play this game actively. The player-base has declined, likely due to a lack of content-updates and advertising, and yet there is still a very active, loyal player-base that is heartbroken at the loss of their game.

I personally understand that all online games end, but this ending is very sudden, and is different than most in that it is affecting many young children as well as adult players.

So I ask, if possible, please sign the Petition to Save Toontown at Change.org.

Even if the Petition makes no difference, it's nice to know that we tried, and that we have come together as a community to try and save our game.

Thank you for reading this.

Update: CNN Tech has an article up about Toontown's closure. Link

I'm Really Sad

Toontown Online will be shutting down on September 19th, 2013.

This makes me very, very sad. I am, in fact, crying at this very moment. I've been taking my pictures today, and I intend to be present at the very last second, until the game logs me off for the last time.

Why is this so relevant to me?

I have been playing Toontown Online since 2003. That is when I was only in second grade. I graduated high school just this year, and will be starting college soon. I have played this game for more than half of my life. It is very, very difficult to see it go. I have grown up with this game, almost literally. I have seen this game grow and add new features as I myself have grown older. It's the oddest feeling.

It had even more relevance to me than just being a game as well. When one of my best friends moved away in third grade, Toontown was how we kept in touch. We remained best friends. It has only been in more recent years that we haven't kept in touch.
Along with him, many of my other friends played Toontown with me. As did my mom, my dad, my grandmother, my aunt, and my cousin.

Among many memories is the one year that I woke up early on New Years Eve and played until midnight. I watched the in-game fireworks at midnight. In the morning, I woke up to find that I had gotten on the Top Toons Board for the most Toontasks completed that day. I was very, very proud.

My character that I've had since the very beginning is a cat, named Miss Binky Octofish, with 79 Laff Points. Dropless. Up to Pixie Dust, Quicksand, Hypno Glasses, Bugle, Wedding Cake, and Geyser. Level 3 Cold Caller Sellbot. 47 out of 50 fish. I wish I had gotten the chance to fight the CFO, CJ, and CEO. Maybe even the VP a few more times. I won't get the chance to now though. There's not nearly enough time.

My other Toons were Nobody, Cardboard Viking, Thyme, and Rococo.

If you read this, cocoa, thank you.

I had a feeling this day would be coming soon, but I didn't think it would be this soon. I will miss this game dearly, and carry the memories of it forever. There has never been a game that I have enjoyed as much as this game, and there may never be again. This game has been such a huge part of my life, in a way that is difficult to explain. Part of my identity will always be Miss Binky Octofish.

I will be playing as Miss Binky Octofish, waiting in Donald's Dreamland for the end of the game, probably crying.