Well, I played Neverwinter Nights on AOL, and it was very much like a Gold Box game obviously. I think the one big issue I had with it was that was before the time of unlimited access, so I always felt the financial pressure of always being "on the clock", so my play sessions were fleeting and under duress. It was like that actually with a lot of the early online games until we got unlimited Internet and fixed fee games. Obviously the BBS-based MUDs were their own consideration, since those were often accessed via local numbers, though it certainly limited the number of players (usually to the number of phone lines the BBS had and active users - there were also games you sort of played it in a multiplayer way, but the opponent(s) would often log in at different times and order their moves and log off).

Certainly Habitat is important to mention, as that's pretty much the graphical MMOG pioneer, and The Sierra Network, something that I also used for a time, which was kind of like a graphical playground for mostly adults, with games and chat and what-have-you.

I think it's important to mention a few of the console offerings as well, like Phantasy Star on the Dreamcast, though again, not really massively multiplayer in the sense we think of, but certainly worthy of a passing mention.

Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.