In the wake of the Turtle WoW lawsuit, I admit I’ve been lurking on Discord and subreddits trying to sort it all out, and I ran across a comment that I thought was worth discussing here in our Daily Grind.

So listen, I’ve been doing the whole MMO emulator thing since the days of Ultima Online, when the studio put the emulator code online for fun and encouraged us to use it to build webcomics and houses for contests. I don’t have a built-in prejudice against the concept, even if I am fully aware there are clear ethical lines that should not be crossed (like, you know, promoting emus over the actual game or raking in enough “donations” in the cash shop to buy a golden yacht).

And that’s why I know that most of these servers usually burn themselves out long before a studio decides to do anything about them. They’re usually drama fields of epic proportions. It’s very often the same couple of dozens people who generate personality clashes and fight over money and stolen code and who’s got the passwords and who has final control and who can’t manage to behave in front of the users who want to Believe. Oh sure, a legitimate company operating above board also has conflicts, but usually the desire to keep the ship upright and making money for everyone is enough. Rogue servers have nothing like that. And what are you gonna do if you get stiffed – complain to the police that your criminal enterprise didn’t pay you on time?

But there are certainly some chill servers out there that manage to keep it together. What’s the most stable, least-drama-filled MMORPG rogue server you know of? Is anybody out there normal?

(I picked a City of Heroes pic on purpose because that community is so notorious for generating heaps of drama.)

Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!