03.07.21 / 9:56 pm
If you were a kid in the 2010s, chances are you got in on the MMO (massively multiplayer online game) craze and played Disney’s Club Penguin and Toontown, Ganz’s WebKinz, Kingsisle Entertainment’s Wizard101 and the like. Nickelodeon also got in on the MMO action with their 2011 MMO Monkey Quest.
Monkey Quest is a new Kids MMO from Nickelodeon set in the spectacular World of Ook, a land where monkeys rule! You play a heroic monkey who battles the evil Shadow Demon, Ka, and his monster horde!
Monkey Quest was a massively multiplayer online game geared toward children's multi-player gameplay. It was developed by Nickelodeon Virtual Worlds Group and launched March 17, 2011. It was showcased at GDC in 2011. Monkey Quest was Beginning on September 26, 2014 so that Nickelodeon could focus on other digital and mobile experiences. Monkey Quest is a free-to-play browser MMORPG created in part by the minds of Nickelodeon, and aimed at their audience. Players take on the role of a monkey they create and enter the world of Ook.
Monkey Quest was an immersive game where you played the role of a customizable monkey fighting monsters, collecting banana currency, and of course, completing quests to unlock new items and areas. You could join one of several tribes, trade with other players, and get to know memorable characters throughout the land of Ook. Nickelodeon even offered exclusive events and costumes for their properties like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Power Rangers.
All in all, it was a solid, fun game. After only four years online though, Nickelodeon stated that they wished to shift their “focus towards other digital and mobile experiences” and shut down the game in 2014. Some fans have come up with a different explanation though, claiming that the massive cost of upkeeping the MMO outweighed the income Monkey Quest generated, leading to its premature end. As of 2021, the official website has been taken down, with the only way to access it being through the archives of the Wayback Machine.
Nickelodeon may have moved on, but loyal fans of the game have been determined to bring back the world of Ook. The most promising of these fan recreations was Monkey Quest Reborn, a nonprofit that attempted to bring back the game known and loved, with new features to pick up where Nickelodeon left off. While the original Monkey Quest had many features that were only available if the user had a paid membership, Reborn planned to make all features free. They weren’t looking for money, but a chance to recreate a beloved game Nickelodeon had shelved years ago. Seeing as how Disney’s shutdown of Club Penguin didn’t stop fans from creating their own private servers, Monkey Quest fans were hopeful for a similar revival.
Unfortunately, on January 22, 2021, ViacomCBS (owner of Nickelodeon) contacted Reborn’s developers and demanded they cease operation. When the developers asked if they could obtain a license to legally continue, they were declined and forced to shut down the game to avoid legal troubles.
Alex the Wizard, a prominent member of the community, explained the situation as much as they legally could in a QnA. Despite Reborn being nonprofit and a passion project, Viacom did not desire them to use their discontinued game’s assets (game modals, text, monsters, backgrounds, etc.) and thus there was no way for fans to legally bring back Monkey Quest. “If you’re looking for closure….this is it...” Alex the Wizard stated.
With the fanmade Reborn thwarted by Viacom, the only way Monkey Quest can be revived is by Viacom itself -- a company that has deemed it not worth the investment. Thus, while other MMOs like WebKinz and Wizard101 remain active, Monkey Quest stays as a handful of archived screenshots while a talented team of independent developers sits with their hands tied.
Charlene Pepiot is a junior studying English at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Charlene know by emailing her @cp872117@ohio.edu.
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| Monkey Quest | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Behaviour Interactive, Nickelodeon Virtual Worlds Group |
| Publisher(s) | Nickelodeon |
| Engine | Unity |
| Release | March 17, 2011; defunct as of September 26th, 2014 |
| Genre(s) | MMO, Fantasy |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Monkey Quest was a massively multiplayer online game geared toward children's multi-player gameplay.[1] It was developed by Nickelodeon Virtual Worlds Group and launched March 17, 2011.[2] It was showcased at GDC in 2011.[1] Monkey Quest was Beginning on September 26, 2014 so that Nickelodeon could focus on other digital and mobile experiences. The Monkey Quest: Thunderbow app was also removed from the App Store on July 31, 2014.[3]
Story[edit]
The game took place in the land of Ook. The Monkey King was dying and you needed to explore the MASSIVE world and find a way to cure him. Throughout the world you would meet many inhabitants and complete more quests than were possible. The player needed to complete multiple quests along the way. They could meet friends, buy new objects, visit the Mayor Bumbee, battle monsters and much more. As the user played, their monkey unlocked more lands, discovered more about the legendary Monkey King, and could even become the leader of a tribe.[4]
Tribes[edit]
There were five monkey tribes available:
- The Chim Foo
- The Sea Dragons
- The Ootu Mystics
- The Ice Raiders
And the fifth and final tribe, the Mek-Tek (Mechanical Technology). This tribe was never playable as before it was released.
Quests[edit]
There were a large number of Quests available throughout the game. There were 4 different kinds of Main Quests could only be done once by every player. As the player leveled up their character, main quests would become more difficult to complete.
Daily Quests[edit]
Daily Quests could be done once a day by any player, regardless of their current level.
Side Quests[edit]
Side Quests - Quests that could be done in addition to the other quest types.
Multiplayer Quests[edit]
Quests that required 2 or more players. Most of these only required 2, but some required 3 players. A Pet could also help in these quests.
Stages[edit]
There were 6 kinds of Quests in Monkey Quest. Each type depended on which section of Ook the player is in.
- Mek-Tek (Mechanical Technology), was never available to begin with, due to the fact that before it was ever released.
- Sea Dragons
- Ootu Mystics
- Chim Foo
- Ice Raiders
Due to an update, all players (non-members and members) could access trails. This followed the deletion of NC Trail Keys and Guest Passes.
Gameplay[edit]
Controls[edit]
Monkey Quest Reborn 2021
To explore the worlds of Ook, players used the arrow keys on their keyboard. Jumping was controlled by pressing the space bar and pressing the arrow keys whilst jumping allowed the player to jump in that direction. Pressing the space bar then the down arrow whilst in midair made the character do a dive bomb towards the ground. The player could also press either the CTRL key or the X key on their keyboard whilst facing an in-game NPC to either access new quests or obtain various information about Ook and its residents. The game had five equippable hot keys (C, V, B, N, and M) to control weapons, potions, pets and any other items players wished to access quickly.
Currency[edit]
There were two types of currency in Monkey Quest. The main type of currency was bananas, which were commonly earned from quests and could be used at a vendor to buy items, whilst the other currency, NC (Nick Cash) could be bought with real money or could be earned by leveling up and could be used to buy items from the NC mall which was located at the bottom right corner of the screen in Monkey Quest.
Membership[edit]
There were membership plans that allow players to pay real life money for special features in the game such as access to all trails, the ability to join each tribe, along with accessing certain areas only available to paid members.[5]
Possibility of a film adaptation[edit]
Monkey Quest Reborn Game
In August 2012, Variety reported that Paramount Animation (which like Nickelodeon is owned by Viacom) was in the process of starting development of several animated movies with budgets of around US$100 million. According to Variety, the intellectual property for these films, which is to be supplied by Nickelodeon among others, included Monkey Quest.[6]
There hasn't been any word of the movie since it was first announced 2012, which means it is either stuck in developmental hell, or is scrapped altogether.
References[edit]
- ^ abNickelodeon Enters MMO Games Space with ‘Monkey Quest’. Website. Retrieved on 2009-03-17
- ^'Monkey Quest News'. Nickelodeon. Archived from the original on March 26, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2018.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^'Monkey Quest'. Nickelodeon. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2018.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
- ^MMOgameingsite Review of Monkey Quest. Website. Retrieved on 2009-03-19
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2013-06-30. Retrieved 2013-05-08.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link) CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^Graser, Marc; Kroll, Justin (17 August 2012). 'Paramount ramping up animation slate'. Variety. Retrieved 17 August 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
Monkey Quest Reborn Website
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