I'm curious how many of you played the Realm, back when it was a Sierra product.  I spent far too much time there, and really enjoyed it.  It was by far the most social online game I'd played up to that point, and I had high hopes for it.  I was disappointed that it never quite became what I had hoped.  It faced a lot of tough competition as massively multiplayer online games exploded.  

 

I still think there's an opportunity for an online game that is multiplayer, but not massively multiplayer.  I don't think the adventure genre lends itself to hordes of people in the same world at the same time, but I think there's sort of a niche for very small groups of people, say two or three, working together to solve puzzles in classic adventure game fashion.  I don't know how to refer to this kind of game.  I'd call it intimately multiplayer instead of massively multiplayer...if that phrase didn't evoke something so entirely different.

 

Granted, I haven't been plugged into online gaming for a while, especially since I became a father, so perhaps there's something out there already that fits into this category I've decided to make up.  If so, I'd love to know about it.  If not, it sure sounds like it'd be something fun to create!

Of course there is always sarien.net

Good Old Adventures was better. I loved all the 'skins'.

 

Never played The Realm, unfortunately.

I know, but sarien.net is still here.

Yeah, sarien.net is interesting, but more from a coding perspective than a playing perspective (for me, anyway). I still think a true co-op adventure game would be a lot of fun.

 

Also, it seems the Realm's server is still running. That is insane!