On January 31, 2012 at 12:01 AM EST, one of my favorite games of my childhood, Lego Universe, shut down. I’d only played the game since that prior August; I’d only heard of it when there was a little booklet in my monthly Lego Magazine that announced it had gone free to play.
I would come home after school every day and play for hours on end. The free content was very limiting, so I eventually was able to convince my mom to buy me a membership.
They announced that following November that the game would be closing at the end of January. I was absolutely distraught.
On the final day, I played all day. I had to beg my mom to let me stay up past my bedtime until midnight to see the game out. That day, I said goodbye to many good friends. Some of their names I remember are: RoguishTempestFalcon, MasterCheif (I know “chief” was misspelled and also I think there were numbers in his username too) and DoctorJoe. I had many more friends that I wish I could remember their names.
As the clock ticked over to 12:00, I could only await the inevitable. But then the clock went to 12:01, and for a second I had hope that maybe the shutdown had been averted. But then the screen flashed white, and I was taken back to the login screen. I tried to log in again, and was greeted with the screen you see above.
It took many years, but eventually Lego Universe has been remade by fans and is open-source. I wish I could tell me from 12 years ago about that. I desperately clinged to hope that it may come back, that the shut down was only temporary. But eventually, I moved on.
The game had a big impact on me. I’ve played many different MMO’s over the years, but for some reason, despite only playing Lego Universe for a short 5 or 6 months, it left a huge impression on me.
Punchedmango422
I was 12 when it ended and it was the first mmo i bought the membership for, and it shut down before i remembered to input the codes
CosmicZaak
I got to participate in the beta test and played religiously; I even still have my LU Nexus Astronaut on my desk! This game is what introduced me to MMOs. The trailers, the concept art, themes and designs are still some of my favorites to this day.
I occasionally play locally on a Darkflame server, but it just isn’t the same. Long live Lego Universe!
Malaise86
Roguishtempestfalcon was my avatar name!
.. is probably something you’re hoping to hear. Alas it is not I, for I have never played this game.
AgoraSnepwasdeleted
God I remember this game, played it like a month before it shut down and I loved it, then was sad it all of a sudden shut down right when I was getting started. I even remember hearing about it becasue it was one of those preview trailers on lego harry potter
gruntwithashotgun
This game and fusionfall were my childhood, it still pisses me off whenever I think of what happened to fusionfalls fan revival all it took was one salty asshole who didn’t get his way for it to be shut down by cartoon network all that work by those passionate fans just tossed out because of a whiney man child
6 Comments
On January 31, 2012 at 12:01 AM EST, one of my favorite games of my childhood, Lego Universe, shut down. I’d only played the game since that prior August; I’d only heard of it when there was a little booklet in my monthly Lego Magazine that announced it had gone free to play.
I would come home after school every day and play for hours on end. The free content was very limiting, so I eventually was able to convince my mom to buy me a membership.
They announced that following November that the game would be closing at the end of January. I was absolutely distraught.
On the final day, I played all day. I had to beg my mom to let me stay up past my bedtime until midnight to see the game out. That day, I said goodbye to many good friends. Some of their names I remember are: RoguishTempestFalcon, MasterCheif (I know “chief” was misspelled and also I think there were numbers in his username too) and DoctorJoe. I had many more friends that I wish I could remember their names.
As the clock ticked over to 12:00, I could only await the inevitable. But then the clock went to 12:01, and for a second I had hope that maybe the shutdown had been averted. But then the screen flashed white, and I was taken back to the login screen. I tried to log in again, and was greeted with the screen you see above.
It took many years, but eventually Lego Universe has been remade by fans and is open-source. I wish I could tell me from 12 years ago about that. I desperately clinged to hope that it may come back, that the shut down was only temporary. But eventually, I moved on.
The game had a big impact on me. I’ve played many different MMO’s over the years, but for some reason, despite only playing Lego Universe for a short 5 or 6 months, it left a huge impression on me.
I was 12 when it ended and it was the first mmo i bought the membership for, and it shut down before i remembered to input the codes
I got to participate in the beta test and played religiously; I even still have my LU Nexus Astronaut on my desk! This game is what introduced me to MMOs. The trailers, the concept art, themes and designs are still some of my favorites to this day.
I occasionally play locally on a Darkflame server, but it just isn’t the same. Long live Lego Universe!
Roguishtempestfalcon was my avatar name!
.. is probably something you’re hoping to hear. Alas it is not I, for I have never played this game.
God I remember this game, played it like a month before it shut down and I loved it, then was sad it all of a sudden shut down right when I was getting started. I even remember hearing about it becasue it was one of those preview trailers on lego harry potter
This game and fusionfall were my childhood, it still pisses me off whenever I think of what happened to fusionfalls fan revival all it took was one salty asshole who didn’t get his way for it to be shut down by cartoon network all that work by those passionate fans just tossed out because of a whiney man child