Celebrating Thanksgiving as the Toontown Community NOTE: This is a pretty long post! If you don't have to read it all, check out at least the very last section. Then come back and read the rest later -- You probably won't regret it!



Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! 🦃



It's been a long time since my last thread here on MMO Central, and boy do I miss this place. Every time I stop by, I'm reminded of so many hours spent watching Roger Dog and Speedway Master's deep dives into



Between all of the places that Toontown fans now gather online to share their love for this game, there are many where I could have made this post. With countless forums, wikis, chats, and more -- it's a great time to be a Toontown fan!



I chose MMO Central Forums for this message (Or Toontown Central, as it still lives in my heart and my theme choice) because of all of these wonderful communities, it is the oldest living Toontown fansite and the one that so many of us have fond memories of as young, wide-eyed Toons talking about this spectacular game. I'd like to give a serious shout-out to the staff who keep this website running for making it the oldest running Toontown fansite, and all the while keeping it actively updated and authentically Toontown!



Phew, all of that for a trip down Loopy Lane and I haven't even started the real point of this post yet. Let's jump into it!







It's been a little over six years since Toontown Online closed its doors, and I just want to dwell on that sentence for a moment. SIX YEARS! Somehow it feels like just yesterday that I was reading



In the past six years we've lost many dear friends, and gained many new ones. We have Toontown fans who have been here since Toontown Online's beta launched in 2002, and others who weren't even born when Toontown Rewritten



With how much time has passed and how much Toontown has evolved as a Community over the years, I wanted to take the time in this post to discuss and remember three big things on behalf of the Toontown Rewritten Team:



1. Where we came from

2. Where we are today

3. Where we want to go



Before I go into things, I know that some of us who have been around for a long time will be tempted to skip over bits of this as the "same old, same old." My challenge and request for you is to really take time to read this in depth and think through your favorite Toontown memories along the way. Take a moment to be a young, wide-eyed Toon again -- I think it'll be worth it.







How Did We Get Here?



On August 20, 2013, we all came together as one community. The news broke that Toontown Online would be closing in one month, and if Toontown were a normal game with a normal community, that would have been the end of it. Luckily, Toontown is no normal game, and we were no normal community. Immediately, we all began to ask: What can we do?



Petitions began to be written, calls to Disney were made, and behind the scenes a small team began to work on answering the question: Is there a way to keep the game alive? The Toontown Community didn't sit down and mope and move on; we sprung into action and did everything in our power to keep the game alive! Even the game's former Creative Director, Jesse Schell, took to Toontown Central to write a thread and provide some advice about how to save Toontown.



We all as one community -- the Toontown Community -- weren't ready to see this game that had impacted our lives so deeply wither away. And so... It didn't! Toontown Rewritten was announced on the day of Toontown Online's closure, and after a long year of development, it finally opened for everyone to play any time that they wanted.



Our goal with Toontown Rewritten has been the same since the day that our project began: To not just bring Toontown back, but to pick up where Disney left off and continue developing, supporting, and growing it as if the game never closed.



This one underdog of a community faced insurmountable odds to bring their beloved game back online, and it miraculously worked! However, that's far from the end of the story.





Where Are We Now?



Spoiler alert: Toontown Rewritten not only launched, but went on to restore every core gameplay element from Toontown Online with a whole bunch of improvements along the way. We'll be the first to admit that we've had our fair share of delays, missteps, and glitches over the years. However, the most important goal we achieved: Toontown is not only back online, but still has thousands upon thousands of players entering the game every week six years after it was supposed to disappear.



Many people don't think about the hurdles that Toontown has had to overcome over the span of these past six years. By all accounts, Toontown shouldn't be alive today, and that's a fact that we often take for granted. Take a moment to really think about everything that Toontown had to accomplish in order for you to be able to enter your username and password, log in, and select your Toon today:



Quote:  A team of talented, passionate Toontown fans had to all have the same idea and find each other in the same place.



 The team had to create a brand new implementation of Toontown's server framework (An "Online Theme Park" Server) called Astron.



 The team's crazy idea to reverse engineer the game and create "Toontown Rewritten" had to actually work.



 Toontown communities like MMO Central Forums had to take a gamble and allow this crazy idea be promoted on their website, despite seemingly doomed to fail.



 The Toontown Community had to actually go out on the internet to find and support this fan-made Toontown without any paid advertisement.



 The Toontown Rewritten Team had to solve the hacking problem that plagued Toontown Online, and keep it solved for six years.



 The team of Toontown Rewritten had to study and strategize about how they can maintain Disney's image and stay on their good side to avoid being shut down for as long as possible.



 Completely against all odds, through miraculous feats of Disney employees that we may never know, who fought for the Toontown Community and worked magic against the Lawbots who could have ended the game with the click of an email: Disney had to not put an end to Toontown Rewritten or any other aspects of the Toontown Community. For six years and counting.



 The Toontown Community had to stay interested in Toontown for nearly an entire year, despite not being able to play the game.



 The Toontown Rewritten Team had to work around the clock to retain the community's interest by posting daily silly stories from Sir Max on the Toontown Blog, creating out-of-game puzzles and ARGs, and developing an attention-grabbing "end of alpha" event all while working as quickly as they could to release the game to everyone.



 Disney had to accidentally package small portions of the server code in a random Toontown Online update, which had to be randomly found by the Toontown Rewritten Team, providing them with enough information to restore the game's original battle system values and mechanics so that Cog battles would always "feel" like the original game.



 Toontown Rewritten had to go six years without any sort of data leak, security flaw, or other form of scandal which would put all of Toontown in jeopardy.



 The Toontown Rewritten Team had to plan and host a real-world event in the middle of nowhere, hoping that Toontown fans would actually show up. (Hundreds did!)



 The Toontown Rewritten Team had to pour tens of thousands of dollars over the period of 6 years to maintain the game servers, host real-world events, and send free merchandise to any player who requests it all while not receiving a single cent in return from subscriptions, donations, advertising, or any other form of revenue.



Toontown's Community has evolved so much since that fateful day in 2013, and against all odds it has survived more than half of the amount of the time of the original game without any signs of stopping! Unfortunately, however, the one community that stood together has become a bit more fragmented. Over the years some small cracks have appeared where players get into debates about this Toontown vs. that Toontown, this idea vs. that idea, and have criticized some of the core creators who keep the game alive (both among community members and teams running Toontown revivals) without stopping to realize that we're all just trying our best to work towards the same thing that we've been working towards all along: Keeping Toontown alive.





What's next for Toontown?



Thanks to all of you reading this post, the future of Toontown is bright and the Toontown Community is still thriving.



In the short term, there are many exciting things coming soon to Toontown Rewritten! As you may know, we have the biggest update that Toontown has seen in over a decade on the horizon with



Besides new content, our team has been exploring ways that we can better support the Toontown Community as a whole. For the past few months, we've been working on a Community Partner Program which aims to create a direct bridge between the Toontown Rewritten Team, Content Creators, and Fansite owners. We want to do everything we can to give these passionate Content Creators and Fansite owners the recognition that they deserve, and expand their audience in the process using Toontown Rewritten's platform! This program isn't quite ready to roll out yet, but expect more news in upcoming months.



With that all said, our goal here isn't to talk about plans for Toontown Rewritten.



Throughout this post, you might notice that I haven't ever said that our goal as the Toontown Team and as the Toontown Community has been to "keep Toontown Rewritten alive." Toontown Rewritten is just one project to keep Toontown as we know it alive, and while we work each and every day to bring it updates as quickly as possible, Toontown's future doesn't rely on Toontown Rewritten. If we are to keep Toontown alive as it has been for nearly two decades, Toontown needs to evolve for tomorrow while still keeping the spirit of what exists today.



Behind the scenes of our team, we are pitching ideas, drawing concepts, and brainstorming away at what Toontown's future might look like. We firmly believe that Toontown's future relies on an official revival (One done right, not a cash grab!), which is why we've followed every single piece of



If there's nothing else that you get from this post, let it be this: As a community, we are ALL working together for the same end goal! Toontown will wither away if we don't stand as one community to celebrate it! We should be supporting one another and building the Toontown Community up, celebrating the impossible fact that 6 years later, anyone can type in "Toontown" on Google and be greeted with the classic, bright red "PLAY NOW!"



With a community as big as Toontown's, we're not all always going to agree. It doesn't matter where you play, which fansite you prefer, which decisions you agree with and which you don't! What's really important to remember at the end of the day is that we're one community, and we're all part of one, big, wonderful, and extremely lucky band of players who love Toontown. Regardless of our differences, we're all here to save Toontown!







The Toontown Community Needs YOU!



Today, let's refocus on what matters for Toontown's future. I hope that this post has filled you with nostalgia, joy, and a desire to cast differences aside and just have fun in Toontown. Getting a true Toontown revival won't happen overnight, but one thing that can happen is a spread of thanksgiving, nostalgia, and joy throughout the Toontown Community.



What should you do to help out? MAKE A POST!



Take a few minutes on this thread to share a memory, post an idea, or simply say "Toontown means the world to me, and I'm going to support it however I can!"

Share this thread with your friends, then get them to share it with their friends too!







Let's pretend it's September 2013, when we all banded together and stood as a community to say: "Toontown isn't over yet!" Make today the day that where we can cast aside differences and become one big Toontown Community again.



I'm so proud of what we've accomplished over these past six years, and thankful for each and every one of you for playing a part in it. Thank YOU for saving Toontown! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! 🦃It's been a long time since my last thread here on MMO Central, and boy do I miss this place. Every time I stop by, I'm reminded of so many hours spent watching Roger Dog and Speedway Master's deep dives into what's coming next for Toontown , or reading the exciting Test Town release notes from Augie Doodle. It feels surreal to think that back then, these were role models who I thought were just the coolest people around for the awesome things they were doing for Toontown. After working with Roger Dog, Speedway Master, Augie Doodle, and many others for the past several years as members of the Toontown Rewritten Team -- I can completely confirm that they are still role models to me today and every bit as awesome as I thought they were when I read their threads as a wee Toon.Between all of the places that Toontown fans now gather online to share their love for this game, there are many where I could have made this post. With countless forums, wikis, chats, and more -- it's a great time to be a Toontown fan!I chose MMO Central Forums for this messagebecause of all of these wonderful communities, it is the oldest living Toontown fansite and the one that so many of us have fond memories of as young, wide-eyed Toons talking about this spectacular game. I'd like to give a serious shout-out to the staff who keep this website running for making it the oldest running Toontown fansite, and all the while keeping it actively updated and authentically Toontown!Phew, all of that for a trip down Loopy Lane and I haven't even started the real point of this post yet. Let's jump into it!It's been a little over six years since Toontown Online closed its doors, and I just want to dwell on that sentence for a moment. SIX YEARS! Somehow it feels like just yesterday that I was reading Jesse Schell's advice to the Toontown Community , writing a post to announce Toontown Rewritten , and hosting the Knock-Knock joke contest that gave us the new jokes on Silly Street.In the past six years we've lost many dear friends, and gained many new ones. We have Toontown fans who have been here since Toontown Online's beta launched in 2002, and others who weren't even born when Toontown Rewritten began the PlayLine With how much time has passed and how much Toontown has evolved as a Community over the years, I wanted to take the time in this post to discuss and remember three big things on behalf of the Toontown Rewritten Team:1. Where we came from2. Where we are today3. Where we want to goBefore I go into things, I know that some of us who have been around for a long time will be tempted to skip over bits of this as the "same old, same old."Take a moment to be a young, wide-eyed Toon again -- I think it'll be worth it.On August 20, 2013, we all came together as one community. The news broke that Toontown Online would be closing in one month, and if Toontown were a normal game with a normal community, that would have been the end of it. Luckily, Toontown is no normal game, and we were no normal community. Immediately, we all began to ask:Petitions began to be written, calls to Disney were made, and behind the scenes a small team began to work on answering the question: Is there a way to keep the game alive? The Toontown Community didn't sit down and mope and move on; we sprung into action and did everything in our power to keep the game alive! Even the game's former Creative Director, Jesse Schell, took to Toontown Central to write a thread and provide some advice about how to save Toontown.We all as one community -- the Toontown Community -- weren't ready to see this game that had impacted our lives so deeply wither away. And so... It didn't! Toontown Rewritten was announced on the day of Toontown Online's closure, and after a long year of development, it finally opened for everyone to play any time that they wanted.Our goal with Toontown Rewritten has been the same since the day that our project began: To not just bring Toontown back, but to pick up where Disney left off and continue developing, supporting, and growing it as if the game never closed.This one underdog of a community faced insurmountable odds to bring their beloved game back online, and it miraculously worked! However, that's far from the end of the story.Spoiler alert: Toontown Rewritten not only launched, but went on to restore every core gameplay element from Toontown Online with a whole bunch of improvements along the way. We'll be the first to admit that we've had our fair share of delays, missteps, and glitches over the years. However, the most important goal we achieved: Toontown is not only back online, but still has thousands upon thousands of players entering the game every week six years after it was supposed to disappear.Many people don't think about the hurdles that Toontown has had to overcome over the span of these past six years. By all accounts, Toontown shouldn't be alive today, and that's a fact that we often take for granted. Take a moment tothink about everything that Toontown had to accomplish in order for you to be able to enter your username and password, log in, and select your Toon today:These are just a few of the completely improbable conditions that had to happen in order for Toontown to be what it is today. You can call it fate, luck, faith, ambition, strategy -- whatever it may be, it's clear that the Toontown Community has it or else Toontown would be long, long gone.Toontown's Community has evolved so much since that fateful day in 2013, and against all odds it has survived more than half of the amount of the time of the original game without any signs of stopping! Unfortunately, however, the one community that stood together has become a bit more fragmented. Over the years some small cracks have appeared where players get into debates about this Toontown vs. that Toontown, this idea vs. that idea, and have criticized some of the core creators who keep the game alive (both among community members and teams running Toontown revivals) without stopping to realize that we're all just trying our best to work towards the same thing that we've been working towards all along: Keeping Toontown alive.Thanks to all of you reading this post, the future of Toontown is bright and the Toontown Community is still thriving.In the short term, there are many exciting things coming soon to Toontown Rewritten! As you may know, we have the biggest update that Toontown has seen in over a decade on the horizon with Sellbot Field Offices , which are still deep in development with more news to come in the near future.Besides new content, our team has been exploring ways that we can better support the Toontown Community as a whole. For the past few months, we've been working on awhich aims to create a direct bridge between the Toontown Rewritten Team, Content Creators, and Fansite owners. We want to do everything we can to give these passionate Content Creators and Fansite owners the recognition that they deserve, and expand their audience in the process using Toontown Rewritten's platform! This program isn't quite ready to roll out yet, but expect more news in upcoming months.With that all said, our goal here isn't to talk about plans for Toontown Rewritten.Throughout this post, you might notice that I haven't ever said that our goal as the Toontown Team and as the Toontown Community has been to "keep Toontown Rewritten alive." Toontown Rewritten is just one project to keep Toontown as we know it alive, and while we work each and every day to bring it updates as quickly as possible, Toontown's future doesn't rely on Toontown Rewritten. If we are to keep Toontown alive as it has been for nearly two decades, Toontown needs to evolve for tomorrow while still keeping the spirit of what exists today.Behind the scenes of our team, we are pitching ideas, drawing concepts, and brainstorming away at what Toontown's future might look like. We firmly believe that Toontown's future relies on an official revival, which is why we've followed every single piece of advice that Jesse Schell told us all those years ago and continue to follow it today.If there's nothing else that you get from this post, let it be this: As a community, we are ALL working together for the same end goal! Toontown will wither away if we don't stand as one community to celebrate it! We should be supporting one another and building the Toontown Community up, celebrating the impossible fact that 6 years later, anyone can type in "Toontown" on Google and be greeted with the classic, bright red "PLAY NOW!"With a community as big as Toontown's, we're not all always going to agree. It doesn't matter where you play, which fansite you prefer, which decisions you agree with and which you don't! What's really important to remember at the end of the day is that we're one community, and we're all part of one, big, wonderful, and extremely lucky band of players who love Toontown.Today, let's refocus on what matters for Toontown's future. I hope that this post has filled you with nostalgia, joy, and a desire to cast differences aside and just have fun in Toontown. Getting a true Toontown revival won't happen overnight, but one thing that can happen is a spread of thanksgiving, nostalgia, and joy throughout the Toontown Community.What should you do to help out?Let's pretend it's September 2013, when we all banded together and stood as a community to say: "Toontown isn't over yet!" Make today the day that where we can cast aside differences and become one big Toontown Community again.I'm so proud of what we've accomplished over these past six years, and thankful for each and every one of you for playing a part in it. Thank YOU for saving Toontown!