So this is it. Toontown is closing. Many things which I could say have already been said, but I think it is appropriate to share a few words about what this game means to me.
I began playing the game at a very difficult time in my life, a time that to some extent continues to this day. It was fun, but I shared a lot of playing time with VMK which took the majority of my interest I believe. Then it closed. I was crushed. I turned to Toontown full time as a substitute. But little did I know how that substitute would turn into such a substantial thing for me.
Toontown is a very unique game. It retains its charm even after years without updates, the unchanging simple gameplay, and certain players wreaking havoc. I believe that beyond the game itself the concept of the game was always stronger. There's a reason I wrote so much Toontown literature during periods of inactivity from actually playing, and a reason why they are written the way they are.
And then I heard it was closing. I can't say it wasn't expected. I was sure that after being hurt before I wouldn't be hurt again. I sometimes feel like it's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. But at other times I realize it isn't the end of the world but I still feel terrible about it. This has really hurt me. I can't hide that anymore.
As Disney tosses it onto their heap of dead intellectual property, I will have to toss it onto my heap of endless nostalgia. It'll be a relic from days where I felt something special, some glimmer of hope in the awful darkness of reality. I can probably say that I won't play an online game made by them ever again. They've completely shattered my trust and every time it is harder to regain.
Yet on the other hand I have to give them my gratitude. Without them Toontown wouldn't exist and I wouldn't have all of these amazing memories. I wouldn't have written my stories. There's less of it that's fiction than you think. It's very important to me and it represents a lot of my feelings. I can't help but be grateful to them for allowing me to have this.
So as Toontown closes I want to remember to be happy. That was its purpose. That is what the cogs never understood, and even some toons never learned. And even if servers are shut down, happiness can never be taken from us forcibly. We choose to shut out the darkness.
With this amazing Toontown community I'm certain we will keep the magic alive. I know now that I don't have to mourn its passing but celebrate its existence. My wish is that we always remember this. Only then can the world of Toontown truly live on in our hearts.
(Another copy of this message is located here: http://www.toontask.com/index.php?/blog/1648/entry-16050-a-message-from-evina/)