Toontown Online

Toontown Online
Developer Disney's Virtual Reality Studio
Schell Games[1]
Frogchildren Studios[2]
Type Massively multiplayer online game
Launch date June 2, 2003 (2003-06-02)
Discontinued Yes
Platform Online
Status Discontinued (September 19, 2013 (2013-09-19))
Members Unknown
Website http://toontown.go.com/

Disney's Toontown Online, commonly known as Toontown Online or Toontown, was a 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on a cartoon animal world, developed by Disney's Virtual Reality Studio and Schell Games, published by the Walt Disney Company.[3]

The Toontown Online online servers were shut down and/or merged over the years, with the final server to close being the United States (then merged with the United Kingdom) on September 19, 2013.[4] A month before the closure, Disney released a statement that the company would be "shifting its focus to other online and mobile play experiences, such as Club Penguin and a growing selection of mobile apps."[5]

Gameplay

Players could create characters called "Toons". Players were able to customize their Toons in various shapes, colors, clothes and sizes, as well as their species, with choices consisting of cats, dogs, ducks, mice, pigs, rabbits, bears, horses and monkeys.[6]

Combat

"Cogs" were the antagonists in-game, stylized to be corporate robots that wanted to take over the town to propagate business culture. Cogs came in four types: brown-clad Bossbots, blue-clad Lawbots, green-clad Cashbots, and maroon-clad Sellbots, each with increasing levels throughout the game that increased their health and damage.[7]

Toons began with basic 'Gags' and a 15-point 'Laff' meter and have a maximum of 137 point laff meter at the end of the game. Gags, rooted in old cartoon slapstick humor, were weapons used to destroy the Cogs in Cog battles. Each 'gag track' had Gags with different properties that could be unlocked by completing 'Toontasks', and each gag track would get progressively more powerful as 'toons' used their gags more.[8][9] The Laff meter functioned as health meter, representing how much damage toons could take from the Cogs before going 'sad' – in-game defeat.[10] Cogs were battled using a timed turn-based combat system with up to four Toons in a battle. Cogs could be fought on the streets of the game, in 'Cog buildings', or in their own designated 'Cog HQ', with each Cog HQ having their own designated bosses, which could be fought by obtaining a full set of their designated Cog disguise outfit. These include the VP (Vice-President, Sellbot HQ), CFO (Chief Financial Officer, Cashbot HQ) CJ (Chief Justice, Lawbot HQ), and CEO (Chief Executive Officer, Bossbot HQ).[11]

A Toon in Toontown Central, the first playground available in-game.

Non-combat activities

Playgrounds were the only areas of Toontown permanently safe from Cogs. In the playgrounds, Toons could regain lost Laff Points, receive or complete ToonTasks unique to each playground, purchase gags, play trolley games, go fishing, kart racing or golfing. By completing ToonTasks, Toons would grow in strength through additional Laff Points or new Gags. Laff Point increases were also available through fishing, racing and golfing challenges. There was a playground in each neighborhood of Toontown. Each playground featured one of Disney's classic animated characters as a non-player character. These playgrounds consisted of the following main playgrounds: Toontown Central, Daisy Gardens, Donald's Dock, Minnie's Melodyland, The Brrrgh, Donald's Dreamland and extra playgrounds including: Goofy's Speedway, and Chip & Dale's Acorn Acres.[12]

Every Toontown Online account came with a player's estate. Each estate consisted of a fishing pond and six houses for each Toon on the player's account. Players could customize their Toon's appearance and house with objects ordered from the in-game catalog by using jellybeans, the in-game currency. Wardrobes held clothing and accessories that were not currently being worn. Other elements of estates included Doodles (pets), gardening, fishing, cannons and play tables, which featured playable Chinese checkers, checkers and Connect Four.[13]

Online safety features

Toontown Online was marketed and developed towards all ages, which is why a chat restriction was placed on the game. Players could only chat using "SpeedChat", a list of pre-approved phrases set by Disney that the player could select. It included general English phrases, in-game strategy phrases, and, occasionally, seasonal phrases. Players could purchase more SpeedChat phrases using, most of the time, 100 jellybeans. "SpeedChat Plus" and "Secret Friends", later renamed to "True Friends", were introduced some time after the game's release, which had to be enabled using a parental account if the player was under 13 years of age. SpeedChat Plus allowed the player to type their own messages against a word filter developed by Disney; if a word was not allowed, it was replaced with an onomatopoeia of that player's Toon's species. True Friends allowed players to chat with a less-restrictive filter with certain friends who have shared a "True Friend code" with each other.[14]

Parties

Parties were hostable, plannable and customizable events by Toons. Toons would use their stored jellybeans in their bank to customize and add content to their parties, such as fireworks, minigames (Tug 'O War, etc.), trampolines, party cannons, etc. To plan a party, Toons would go to a Toon Party Planner. Toons could also customize their own invitations to these parties. These parties would last about 30 minutes.

Distribution

CD-ROM

Platform Publishing, a subsidiary company of Sony Online Entertainment that publishes games for third-party developers, announced on August 25, 2005 it had acquired rights to publish a CD version of Toontown Online for the PC and bring the game to online game consoles.[15][16][17][18] Toontown Online became available on CD for the PC on October 3, 2005.[19] This allowed players to play the game without downloading it onto their storage devices. This version came in a box set with two months of subscription, a poster, a game manual, and an in-game bonus.[20] Toontown Online chose to create a CD that could be purchased in stores, due to customer insecurity when downloading and buying things online that they could not physically hold.[21]

Closure

On August 20, 2013, Disney announced that after 10 years of operation, Disney's Toontown Online was being shut down permanently on September 19, 2013.[5][22] Subsequently, every player was given membership for the remaining time of the game. Seasonal and holiday celebrations and special in-game events took place in the time remaining. Recurring paid memberships were automatically cancelled, memberships could no longer be purchased and accounts could no longer be created.[22] The website was also updated with a closing FAQ.[23] The main Toontown Online website was not due for closure until another year. The game remained open for a month after the announcement, finally closing on the set date, September 19, 2013, at 11:59 A.M. Pacific Standard Time.[4] After the game's closure, Toontown's website was updated with a new FAQ to help with billing support and inform users about the game's closure.[4] Toontown's site, toontown.go.com, now redirects to Disney's main site, disney.com. In response to the closure, former players have created multiple private servers of Toontown Online. The most popular server, Toontown Rewritten, is described by its developers as "a fan-made revival of Disney's Toontown Online, created using publicly available downloads and information made freely available to the general public."[24]

In June 2015, Jesse Schell hinted that Toontown Online closed due to becoming unsustainable in its business model (subscription-based downloadable RPG).[25] Schell confirmed that Disney wants to be able to port the game to mobile devices but are waiting for a working business model for self-sustaining, constantly-updating mobile RPGs. Schell also stated that the company has hosted internal meetings discussing the future of the game, taking the popularity of mobile games and the payment options available on that platform into consideration for planning the next step for the Toontown license.[25] A solution has yet to be agreed upon, but according to Schell, these internal meetings continued into 2016.[26]

ToonFest

Not to be confused with Walt Disney's Hometown Toonfest held annually in Marceline, Missouri.[27]

Disney organized two real-life gatherings for Toontown fans called ToonFest. ToonFest included themed activities and games, trivia and costume contests, previews of upcoming features for the game, and developer Q&A panels.[28][29] The first gathering, ToonFest 2006, was held at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California,[30][31] while ToonFest 2007 was held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.[32][33]

Reception

Toontown Online received "favorable reviews". The game has won several awards.

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings82%[34]
Metacritic81%[35]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame[36]
GameZone9/10[37]
PC Gamer (UK)83%[38]
Game industry News[39]
GamerDad[40]
PC Magazine[41]

Awards and nominations

Year Association Award Category Result Ref
2003 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Annual Interactive Achievement Award
PC Massively Multiplayer/Persistent
World Game of the Year Award		 Games Nominated [42]
Computer Gaming World MMORPG Game of the Year Online Games Won [43]
Game industry News Family Game of the Year Games Won [39]
Parents' Choice Foundation Silver Honor Online Video Games Won [44]
Web Marketing Association WebAward Outstanding Website Game Site Won [45]
The Webby Awards Webby Award Games Nominated [46]
Webby Award People's Voice Youth Won [47][48]
2004 Web Marketing Association WebAward Outstanding Website Game Site Won [49]
2005 Web Marketing Association WebAward Outstanding Website Game Site Won [50]
The Webby Awards Webby Award Games Nominated [51]
"Webby Worthy Selection" Games Won [1]
WiredKids Safe Gaming Award Computer Games Won [52][53]
2006 Web Marketing Association WebAward Game Site Standard of Excellence Game Site Won [54]
The Webby Awards Webby Award Games Nominated [55]
2007 iParenting Media Awards Greatest Products Award Winner Video Games Won
Web Marketing Association WebAward Outstanding Website Game Site Won [56]
2009 Parent Tested Parent Approved Seal of Approval Website Won [57]

References in other media

  • The game was mentioned on a January 2002 comic strip of Penny Arcade, in which the side character, Gabe admits to really enjoy the game.[58]
  • The Cogs, the main antagonists of Toontown Online, are referenced by Gyro Gearloose on a pad of paper in the new DuckTales reboot. It is unknown if Toontown is officially canon to the reboot due to nothing being said by the crew or producers just yet.[59]

References

  1. 1 2 "Games developed by Schell Games". Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Frogchildren Studios Games Artwork". Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Disney's Toontown Online to Launch June 2003" (Press release). North Hollywood, CA: The Walt Disney Company. 2003-05-05. Archived from the original on 2004-11-27. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  4. 1 2 3 "Disney's Toontown Online: Closed FAQ". The Walt Disney Company. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  5. 1 2 Palazzo, Anthony. "Disney to Shutter 10-Year-Old Toontown Multiplayer Game". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 23 August 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2014. (Subscription required (help)).
  6. ↑ "Meet the Toons". Disney. Archived from the original on 2012-01-01.
  7. ↑ "Meet the Cogs". Disney. Archived from the original on 2012-01-01.
  8. ↑ "Gags". Disney. Archived from the original on 2012-01-05.
  9. ↑ "Toon Tasks". Disney. Archived from the original on 2012-01-04.
  10. ↑ "Laff Points". Disney. Archived from the original on 2012-01-12.
  11. ↑ "Meet the Cogs". Disney. Archived from the original on 2012-01-01.
  12. ↑ "Neighbourhoods". Disney. Archived from the original on 2012-01-05.
  13. ↑ "Neighbourhoods". Disney. Archived from the original on 2012-01-05.
  14. ↑ "The Untold History of Toontown's SpeedChat". Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Disney's Toontown Goes To Retail This Fall" (Press release). San Diego, CA, and North Hollywood, CA: The Walt Disney Company. 2005-08-25. Archived from the original on 2005-12-02. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  16. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (25 August 2005). "Toontown headed for consoles". Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  17. ↑ Raiciu, Tudor (26 August 2005). "Disney's Toontown Goes To Retail This Fall". Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  18. ↑ "Sony Online Entertainment's Platform Publishing Label Bringing Disney's 'Toontown Online' to Retail This Fall". PR Newswire. 25 August 2005. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  19. ↑ "Platform Publishing Lets the Toons Out With Disney's Toontown Online". PR Newswire. 3 October 2005. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  20. ↑ Marriott, Scott Alan. "Disney's Toontown Online [Retail Box]". AllGame. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  21. ↑ Goslin, Mike. "Postmortem: Disney Online's Toontown". Gamastura. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  22. 1 2 "Disney's Toontown Online: About Closing". The Walt Disney Company. Archived from the original on August 20, 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  23. ↑ "Disney's Toontown Online: Closing FAQ". The Walt Disney Company. Archived from the original on September 10, 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  24. ↑ Palmeri, Christopher. "Disney's Defunct Toontown Remade by Unsanctioned Teen". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 17 June 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2014. (Subscription required (help)).
  25. 1 2 Jesse Schell (2015-06-13). OMG!Con 2015 - Jesse Schellivision. YouTube (Online video). Retrieved 2018-05-15.
  26. ↑ Toontown Rewritten (13 June 2016). "OMG!Con 2016: Jesse Schellivision". Retrieved 4 April 2018 – via YouTube.
  27. ↑ "Ziggy Artist, Other Cartoonists, Gather For Tribute at Disney Birthplace" (Press release). Walsh Public Relations. 2005-09-12. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  28. ↑ "Disney 365 – Toon Town Online's ToonFest". The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  29. ↑ "Toontown Online Video – Toontfest". GameTrailers. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  30. ↑ "Thousands of 'Toons' to Gather at Disney Studios in Burbank for FirstEver 'ToonFest'; Disney Channel Stars Among Attendees at August 26th Fan Event Dedicated to Disney's Toontown Online" (Press release). Disney Online, a division of the Walt Disney Internet Group. 2006-08-25. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  31. ↑ Dobson, Jason (11 August 2006). "Disney Celebrates Toontown Online With ToonFest". Gamasutra. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  32. ↑ "Disney's Toontown Online Hosts ToonFest 2007" (Press release). Disney Online, a division of the Walt Disney Internet Group. 2007-08-04. Archived from the original on 2007-11-02. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  33. ↑ "ToonFest 2007 (Video)". Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  34. ↑ "Disney's Toontown Online for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  35. ↑ "Disney's Toontown Online for PC Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  36. ↑ Deci, T.J. "Toontown Online Overview". AllGame. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  37. ↑ "Disney's Toontown Online PC Review". GameZone. 15 June 2003. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  38. ↑ "Disney's Toontown Online Critic Reviews for PC". Gamefaqs. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  39. 1 2 Crowe, Greg (29 December 2003). "Review: Disney's Toontown Online". Game industry News. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  40. ↑ Anderson, Michael (23 November 2005). "GamerDad ToonTown Online PC". Bub Writing. Archived from the original on 2 March 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  41. ↑ Dan Costa (28 October 2003). PC Magazine. Ziff Davis, Inc. pp. 158–. ISSN 0888-8507.
  42. ↑ "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  43. ↑ "Game of the Year Awards" (PDF). Computer Gaming World (236): 63. March 2004. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  44. ↑ Oldenburg, Don. "Parents' Choice Silver Honor Disney Toontown Online Review". Parents' Choice. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  45. ↑ "Toontown Online Team wins 2003 WebAward for Toontown". Web Marketing Association. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  46. ↑ "Games The Webby Awards Gallery". The Webby Awards. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  47. ↑ "Youth The Webby Awards Galley". The Webby Awards. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  48. ↑ "Disney's Toontown Online Receives People's Voice Webby Award in Kid's Category" (Press release). North Hollywood, CA: The Walt Disney Company. 2003-06-09. Archived from the original on 2006-05-09. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  49. ↑ "Disney's Toontown Online wins 2004 WebAward for Disney's Toontown Online". Web Marketing Association. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  50. ↑ "Disney's Toontown Online wins 2005 WebAward for Disney's Toontown Online". Web Marketing Association. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  51. ↑ "Games The Webby Awards Gallery". The Webby Awards. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  52. ↑ "Teenangels: the award-winning cybersafety expert group, Computer Games". WiredSafety. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  53. ↑ "Disney Online Awarded Best of the Web and Safe Gaming Honors at Fifth Annual WiredKids Summit" (Press release). North Hollywood, CA: The Walt Disney Company. 2005-05-25. Archived from the original on 2005-12-06. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  54. ↑ "Disney Online, Premium Products wins 2006 WebAward for Disney's Toontown Online". Web Marketing Association. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  55. ↑ "Games The Webby Awards Gallery". The Webby Awards. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  56. ↑ "Walt Disney Internet Group wins 2007 WebAward for Disney's Toontown Online". Web Marketing Association. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  57. ↑ "Parent Tested Parent Approved Disney Toontown Online". Parent Tested Parent Approved. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  58. ↑ "There's No Cue In Cue". Penny Arcade. 2002-01-23. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  59. ↑ "Gyro makes a brief reference to Toontown Online • r/ducktales". reddit. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
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