For those of you who don't know, Remnants of Skystone was a MMO game that was on Kongregate for a few years. A game that I almost immediately became hooked on around 2008 and 2009. The game was a Steampunk based one where you took control of your created character who was one of three classes; Ferric, Aeronaut, or Crag. You would travel the world doing main and side quests, collecting items and spores, buying and selling wares, fighting monsters, and eventually going home to your personal float that you could customize. There were big worlds to explore and things to see.
I was hooked on the game and played it extensively. My character was an Aeronaut named Maria, clad in grey and a top hat, and many hours I controlled her as I completed quests. I never completed the main quest; I got through two of the worlds before getting stuck in the Ridgeback Highlands. Regardless, I still collected spores in an attempt to collect enough to buy a new weapon. There was a microtransaction system, but I didn't use it. Honestly I'm now glad that I didn't... I remember I wanted the Heartbeat Blasters, an Aeronaut weapon that looked way cooler than mine; red with a pulse design.
Trying to get spores was difficult, though. They came seldom and few, and I only seemed to get more payment from either taking missions or challenges that involved playing with other people. Mostly I played on my own and preferred just walking through a city of other people with other characters. I had a lot of fun with this game. However, around 2010 the updates seemed to slow, and yet there were still people playing from what I remember.
It was about 2011 when I finally stopped playing. Between the grinding and the trouble I was having manning an Aeronaut through Ridgeback Highlands I started to fall out of love. It didn't help that most of the possible rewards were not purchasable with these spores. I slowed my playing to a halt and for a few years I just expected that the game was continuing fine.
Then earlier this year it came about that I heard that Remnants of Skystone was shutting down. Not just its servers, it was shutting down everything. I... I didn't know what to think. Relief, I guess, that I didn't pay money. There was a $100 lifetime membership to that game and it only lasted a few years; I hope nobody actually spent that much on it. Then the memories and nostalgia kicked in. This game I had once loved was now gone forever; there was no returning for fun or trying a new game, it was gone for everyone.
I heard some people were planning on getting together on the last day or so to play, but I went a few days beforehand to look once more. Maria was the same as I remembered with a confident smile and goggles obscuring her eyes. Once before she had been a part of me, but now... No. She was a fellow I knew well, but she wasn't me anymore, she was too foreign. As was the city I entered into; completely barren of everyone but NPCs. This wasn't what I remembered and part of me didn't want to see it. I explored the city again before heading to my float.
It was the same too. A single, purple love seat under a orange window. A coffee table sat in front of it, topped with a 8 and a 5 pool ball. A few trophies in the corner and a rug on the floor. Empty and unfinished. I had thought I could earn more than this, a magnificent float, a well armed character, but this was my last chance and I hadn't the means at all. I steered Maria around the room and just thought, watching her move around in hulking boots and thinking about how this was the last time.
Then we headed to the Ridgeback Highlands again and killed a few enemies. The joy wasn't there; maybe from my lack of actual enjoyment in the game or maybe from the melancholy mood. Then I returned to the city again to talk with some of the NPCs which were still waiting for me to finish quests. I returned to the float again, thoroughly depressed, and decided to end the game. Shortly after I shut off and then it was all gone. That was the last time I played, the last time I saw Maria.
It wasn't a great game and I know if it was still there I wouldn't be playing it, but part of me... Part of me feels sad that it's gone, and I know why. It's because now that it's gone all that time I put into the game was pointless. My character is gone, my float, my minutes, my hours, it's all gone... And the only reason I think about it now is because it is gone for good... It really makes you think.
