It was very sad to read this morning that Toontown is closing.
To many this announcement will not mean anything as they wont know what Toontown is or why it is sad.
Toontown is an online interactive game, a virtual world created by Disney and played by millions worldwide. Every other player (Toon) is a real person located somewhere in the world (mostly America).
We discovered Toontown in 2006 when our young son (4) was looking for an online game to play. Toontown assisted in teaching our son how to read, login (with a username and password), play and share with others, complete challenges and many other abilities.
Toontown was infectious… to the point where we all played the game as a family. Our son (Ugly Rainbow), Mum (Sugar), Dad (King GoogleZapper) played with, for and against one another. We played as a team, competing and working for one another to accomplish the challenges. We met players in a virtual world that later became friends in real life. Mum met a number of American women who she now counts as friends.
To maintain security, Disney created Speedchat that enabled communication between players restricted to predetermined phrases and words. The worst thing a player could say to another player was “You Stink”. We believe Speedchat was created by an Australian from OnlyMelbourne. They later introduced Speedchat Plus + True Friends. True Friends chat allows players to type their own messages without being filtered by the word filter. To communicate with True Friends chat, players must first exchange a “True Friends code” with each other and activate it.
The reason for the closure has not been given by Disney, but we suspect there are two reasons. Players are aware that hackers have been infiltrating the game on a regular basis, filling up districts and generally spoiling the game. Disney issued a statement apologizing for connection issues in July 2013, which was caused by the hackers. It is also speculated Toontown is closing, along with Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Pixie Hallow Online, because of Disney shifting its resources to its only remaining virtual world, Club Penguin.
I have included Disney’s announcement below, and urge people to visit Toontown before it closes.
Other links worth taking a look at:
Announcement
Toontown Online will be closing on September 19, 2013.
From now until September 19, 2013, ALL Toons can log into Toontown and enjoy full unlimited access for free!
Here’s what you need to know:
- Toontown Online Memberships are no longer available for purchase. All Toons now play as Members for free until Toontown Online’s closing date.
- As of August 20, 2013, paid Member accounts will no longer be charged a recurring payment for Toontown Online. Emails will be sent to all current paid Members with further information about Membership including refund details.
- If you do not currently have a Toontown Membership, there is no need to cancel your free account.
- Any currently open in-game codes can still be redeemed in your Shticker Book until Toontown closes on September 19, 2013.
- If you have questions regarding your billing or Toontown Membership, please contact us.
For additional information and details, please visit the Toontown Closing FAQs.
Be sure to keep checking up-Toon-the-minute news on all the Toontastic activities and kooky celebrations coming your way during Toontown’s final month here in Toon HQ!
What Next
Parents often ask what game are we playing now. In 2013 we discovered Minecraft. Only our son (11) and Dad play the game, we have our own local server plus we play on a number of Minecraft servers. You can buy Minecraft for PC/Mac. Minecraft: Pocket Edition is available for iOS and Android, and Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition is available on the XBLA Marketplace.
In 2013, Minecraft had sold over 11 million copies making it the 5th best-selling game.
Minecraft is a much different game to Toontown. The graphics are more basic, but the possibilities are endless. We have discovered many more unscrupulous players using hacks and bad attitudes playing and spoiling the game for others, which server admins are working to overcome.
Hold On!
2014 its back… See here